Picking up the pieces
by 24addict
Summary: How does Jack rebuild his life after season 6? In this fanfiction, Jack eats and sleeps as well as indulging in a few 'Jackish' moments. Hard as he tries, his past never leaves him alone...
1. Chapter 1

**1Camping**

Fox owns 24 and all its characters. This is just for fun, brought on by unrequited 24-addiction in the wake of the writers' strike.

_The following takes place three weeks after Day 6, in the Canadian Lakes. It is nearly sun-down. The sky is clear and the deep chill of night descends on the scene._

Josh Bauer clutched his belly and ran as fast as his shaky legs could carry him into the trees. Jack didn't raise an eye-brow, but breathed deeply the clean air of the pine-forest and continued to watch bubbles form on a cup of water which was perched above a small fire.

It wasn't the start to the trip that Jack had expected. It was just meant to be a chance to spend some time in the outdoors with Josh. Jack, at least, recognised his need to get out of LA. He was eternally grateful to Kim for allowing him to spend time with her. But the constant activity, the noise, the chatter, was difficult to bear. Not to mention sitting down at the dinner table with a son-in-law who happened to be a psychologist specializing in PTSD. Though Jack would never have admitted it, there were times he longed for the quiet solitude of his cell in China. It enough to drive anyone to drink.

Josh, meanwhile, had had his own demons to battle. Marilyn had said the break would do him good and mentioned something about 'male-bonding.'

But after just a day in the canoe, Josh had been overcome by a bad case of diarrhoea and vomiting. Jack had had to 'up paddles' and start digging a latrine. Twenty-four hours later Josh had exhausted their supply of toilet roll. Still, Jack mused, the boy wasn't complaining. If anything, the sickness made Josh quieter than his usual self, which suited Jack. And they were, at least, spending time together.

An ashen-faced Josh emerged from the trees and sat with Jack by the stove. Wordlessly Jack poured water from a Jerry-can over Josh's outstretched hands to allow him to wash. The boy's body shook with the shock of cold water, and he attempted to dry his hands by the flames. Jack handed Josh a cup of soup.

'Uncle,' Josh said shakily, 'I don't think I can.'

'Force yourself. Two sips. It comes up, it comes up, that can't be helped. Trust me, it's your least unpleasant option.' Jack said firmly.

'What's the other option?' Josh asked, his teeth now chattering.

'I put soup powder under your tongue.'

Josh looked shocked.

'Dehydration.' Jack said by way of explanation, 'You need salt. You got a headache yet?'

'I thought if you were dehydrated you needed water. Salt makes you thirsty.'

Jack gave Josh a penetrating stare. 'Next time you're in school, and they do science, pay attention. Now, drink your soup.'

Reluctantly, Josh took a sip. Jack seemed to relax and sipped from his own cup.

'I don't get it.' said Josh. We eat the same food, drink the same water. I get sick, you don't.'

'I already met most bugs. You get immune after a while.' Jack continued with his soup.

'One more mouthful.' And he watched to make sure Josh complied.

'Uncle, can I ask you something? Only, my dad never talked about when you were kids. Did you and dad always fight?' Josh asked.

'That's what brothers do.'

Josh put his cup down.

'No, we didn't always fight. In fact, we were pretty close. I got into more fights protecting him. In our school a kid with glasses – got teased. We had some fun together. Good scrapes.'

'Like what?' Josh asked.

Jack was silent. He gave Josh no indication that he had even heard, although the boy was sitting right next to him. Josh pulled out an extra sweater from the low two-man which was set up nearby, and put it on. Jack stared into the flames. He seemed to register neither Josh's presence nor the increasing cold, but the hairs on his bare arms were erect.

Then after a long time, he spoke. 'So, my friend's brother, one day he crashed his motorbike. Couldn't afford a new one, so he gave us his foot pump. Said he didn't need it. And we thought this was great way to make money. We thought, well, Grae thought, we could check the tyre pressures on all our neighbour's cars and charge them for it. Dime a car. And then I thought, wouldn't it be better if all the tyres were flat, then we could charge more – dime per tyre, that's 40 cents per car. So we thought we could sneak out at night, let the air out all the tyres, then go round Saturday morning and get some cash.'

'And nobody would get suspicious.'

'No.' Jack smiled. 'No one.'

'What happened?'

'Well, we let the air out alright. Didn't get caught at that. Waited till about 2am, then crept out. That was fun.'

'How many cars?'

'About half the cars in the street. It was a small street. We didn't do your grandpa's. We didn't dare do his.'

'And no one would suspect anything?'

'We knew they would know it was vandals, but we didn't think they would work out it was us. So, come morning, we set out, knocked on the first door, ma'am, did you notice your tyres were flat, would you like us to sort that for you, ma'am? And we set to work. Of course, she went straight round to see my Dad. And they worked it out immediately. Then there was trouble.'

'What did Grandpa do?'

'He went and did all the tyres quick as anything. We had to go round, apologise and offer to do chores. And all the neighbours were told not to give us anything to eat, just water. So we mowed lawns, washed dishes, whatever they wanted, we did. All day long.'

'I guess you had that coming.'

'We did,' Jack smiled, 'Then there was the woodshed.'

'What do you mean?'

'So once we were finished all the chores for all these people, we had to go down the woodshed with Dad. We knew the drill. There was a lecture, then it was pants down and he would use his belt. Only for serious stuff, you know. So this time Grae went first. And I felt bad about that coz it was my fault, it was my idea. Then it was my turn. Only problem was, I'd got shot in the butt just a couple of days before, so I…

'Wait, wait. How'd you get shot in the butt?'

'That was Grae. We had this air-pistol and we used to take it down the quarry and shoot cans. Great fun. I was putting the cans out, Grae had the pistol. He said it was an accident… I don't know. Anyhow, we got the pellet out…'

'How'd you get it out?'

'Grae got it out. With a potato peeler. He made a right mess, kinda left a hole in my butt-cheek. Thing is, it had stopped hurting, so I'd really forgotten about it. So anyway I'm leaning over and Dad says to me, Jack, how'd you get that hole in your butt? And, if I'd been smarter or quicker I would have thought up some story. I could have said, I sat on a nail or something. Maybe he'd have believed me. But you know, I was tired and hungry. I was ashamed of what I'd done, and I wasn't looking forward to what was coming. I wasn't at my best. All I could think of to say was, what hole?'

Josh laughed out loud.

'You having your soup?' Jack asked. Josh shook his head.

'I'll take it then.' Jack was not hungry or thirsty, but they had limited supplies and he couldn't bear to see anything going to waste.

'So what did Grandpa say then?' Josh asked.

'Then he poked me, hard, and said, this hole. I gotta tell you, I just about hit the roof. What could I say? So of course he didn't just leave it. He grilled me and he grilled me and he grilled me. And I'm trying not to look at Grae. And Grae's trying not to look like he knows. So then he sends Grae away and tells me it looks like I've been shot.'

'You didn't wanna squeal on my dad.'

'I didn't wanna squeal on Grae, I didn't wanna squeal on myself, and I did _not_ want them to find the pistol and take it away. But I had to tell him something. So in the end I said that it was just an airgun and it was an accident and it wouldn't happen again. That I couldn't tell him who I was with, and can he please just give me whatever I'm due for the tyres thing.'

'And?'

'And he did. And _then_ he handed me over to my mom. She was a great woman, it's a shame you never knew her. Anyway, Mom and Dad had the good cop-bad cop routine down to a fine art. So, first Mom feeds me, then she gives me this line about how worried she is about me.'

'Worried?'

'Hmmm. Worried that older boys have been using me as target practice and maybe making me do other things that I didn't want to do. Inappropriate things. So I told her that wasn't happening. But she just kept on and on and on. And one thing I never learned to do was to lie to my mom. She could always tell. So then she said that I was obviously protecting someone, and she was going to talk to _all_ my friends' moms about it. And then I broke. I just couldn't take it any longer. I told her the truth. So she asked me where the gun was. And I told her, under my mattress, where I kept it. So we went there. But what I hadn't counted on was that Grae _knew_ I would break in the end. He was not stupid. So, while Mom and Dad were distracted with me, he snuck into my room and smuggled it out. So we went there, no pistol.'

'She told Grandpa, right?'

'Right. And then it got real bad. Because not only was I protecting someone, but I was also lying to get Grae into trouble.'

'Did they ask him about it?'

'Of course, he denied everything. He was very good, was your dad…'

'Leaving you in deep shit.'

Jack gave Josh another penetrating stare, but decided to allow the language. Josh was, after all, almost an adult.

'All that mattered was that we got to keep the pistol. They never found out about it. Grae did the right thing.'

'But what happened that night?'

'Well, I realised there was no point sticking to my story. But I couldn't really make anything up either. I mean, I could hardly accuse my friends of doing something they never did. So I just kept quiet. I mean I said nothing. Not even to Grae. Didn't speak until the next day.'

'But he must have punished you again?'

Jack nodded. 'Hmmm. But I think Mom spoke to him. At least he didn't use his belt.'

They both sat in silence.

Jack didn't answer. 'How you feeling now?'

'Headache's a bit better.'

'Here, I left you a bit more soup.' Jack offered Josh his cup back.

'No I don't want it, thanks.'

'Take it anyway,' said Jack.

Josh realized this was not an invitation. He took a sip of cold, salty soup and, with effort, swallowed.

Eventually Josh spoke. 'Dad never said much about when you were kids. He never really talked about you at all.'

Jack nodded.

Josh chuckled. 'I'm not sure I buy that he shot you in the butt and you didn't get him back.'

'I never said I didn't get him back.' Jack growled quietly.

'What did you do?'

Jack didn't reply. Eventually he picked up both cups and said, 'I'm going to turn in. You should try to sleep.'

'Yes uncle.'


	2. Chapter 2

**2Keys**

_The following takes place in a LA gym approximately one month after Day 6._

Rose Montgomery shouted instruction at her class and they obeyed in perfect time. Her class consisted of men and women, young and old, black-belts and newbies who, like Jack Bauer, hadn't even purchased a white gi. The belt wrapped around Rose's slim waist had once been black, but had been washed so many times that it had achieved a dull-grey hue, its frayed ends held together by equally-frayed lengths of electrical tape. Her twin daughters, both skilled brown-belts, were close to the front. Jack, being ungraded and out of uniform stood to the rear of the group, but there was no doubting his sparring skills were among the best, and his performance at kata improved with every session.

The group were smelly, sweaty and out of breath. Time to stretch off and cool down.

'Partner up! One of you against the wall, have your partner stretch your leg up, one at a time!'

Rose made a point of partnering Jack. He had come along to several training sessions now without saying much. Besides which, she found him devilishly attractive. She indicated for him to back against the wall, took his offered foot and began to stretch his leg. She watched his face for signs of strain but saw none, no matter how hard she pushed. She settled on chest-height, as this was all her considerable strength could manage.

'Push down with you leg, push against your partner!'

Jack breathed heavily in the effort to obey.

'Relax! Lift it higher, at least two inches higher!' Rose instructed the group.

She backed up a little to gain leverage to lift his foot as high as it would go (she felt he had not yet really been pushed to his limit) and noticed, beneath the grime that encrusted the sole of his foot, criss-crossed thin white lines. They were regular, as if he had been deliberately cut or beaten. It took her several seconds to clock this information, and when she looked back at his face she noticed his eyes were locked deep into hers. But he said nothing.

'Ok, tough guy, let's see how far you can go,' she said and lifted higher yet. 'Straighten that leg.'

Everyone was relieved when stretching was over, and after Rose had been placated with a few more push-ups, they were dismissed.

There were showers at the gym, but Jack was one of those who preferred to wash in the privacy of his own apartment. As he neared his SUV in the car park, he noticed Rose shouting in anger and desperation at one of her girls. The child was crying while her sister looked on.

'Why do you need to be such a clumsy clutz? We can't drive, we can't get in the house, the spare is in the house…'

'Can I help?' Jack asked.

'Not unless you can break into my car and my house.' answered Rose shortly. 'Cat here managed to lose the keys down the drain.'

Jack peered into the drain. 'They're gone alright.' He took a knife out of his pocket and fumbled with the lock to Rose's dusty Ford.

'I was only kidding,' said Rose.

Jack, who had lodged his cigarette in this mouth while he picked the lock, said nothing. After a few seconds there was a click and the door opened.

Rose looked on in amazement. 'How did you do…' she began, but Jack was already under the dash searching for the wires he needed. Once the engine was turning over he emerged and removed the cigarette from his mouth. 'Did you say the house too?' he enquired casually.

'There's another spare in the house, but we can't get in. It's OK, I'll drive to a locksmith's from here.'

'No need,' said Jack, 'I'll get you in. You drive. I'll follow in my car. I'm in no rush anyway.'

'That's really kind of you Jack, I don't know how to thank you.'

'No problem,' he said, retreating to his own vehicle which was in the next row.

'If I go with him in his car I can show him the way if he gets lost.' said Sam, the other of Rose's daughters.

'No need,' said Jack, 'I can follow.'

'But what if you get stuck at a red?' asked Sam.

Jack, who did not like to tell this apparently law-abiding family how he generally dealt with red lights when tailing another vehicle, didn't have an answer to this.

Rose nodded, Jack let Sam into the passenger seat and stubbed out his cigarette in the ash-tray.

They drove in silence, Jack right behind Rose's car.

'Smoking's bad for you, you know that?' the girl said.

'Yeah, I heard that,' Jack replied.

'You going to break into our house?'

'Yep.' Jack grunted.

'How?'

'See when I get there. You guys got a security system?'

'No.' the girl answered.

'Shouldn't be too hard. This'll save your mom an arm and a leg calling out a locksmith on a Saturday.'

'How do you know how to break into cars and houses and shit?'

Jack turned to look at the girl. 'You let your mom hear you talk like that?'

She didn't reply.

'Which are you, Sam or Cat?'

'I'm Sam. I'm an inch taller than Cat, and I got two tags on my belt, she's just got one.'

'Hmm.' Jack looked unimpressed. 'I used to work for LAPD. We got training – picking locks and stuff. Tried to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.'

'Did it work?'

'Sometimes.'

'_Oh_,' nodded Sam, emphasising each word, 'well, _that_ explains it.'

'Explains what?'

'Mom thought you were ex-military. Special forces, you know, like Navy SEAL or something?'

'Oh? How'd she work that out?'

'She can tell things about people from the way they move.'

'Well, I'm nothing as exciting as that.'

'So what do you do now, for a living? It's left here.' Sam added.

'Between jobs.'

'You mean you're unemployed.' It wasn't a question.

Jack wondered whether Kim had ever been this annoying.

'Is your place far?'

'Not far. It's OK, you don't need to be embarrassed. Men don't need to be breadwinners all the time. Feminism emancipates men too.'

'Hmm' said Jack and resolved to say nothing more till the end of the journey.

They parked behind Rose's car at the entrance to her semi-detached. It was a poor neighbourhood, but respectable. The place could do with a lick of paint, thought Jack.

'This door here?' He examined the lock for a few minutes before vaulting the fence to the back yard. Rose, Sam and Cat waited by the front door. A few minutes later, Jack knocked from inside.

'Where do you keep your spare?' he asked.

Rose blushed. She hadn't anticipated him being this quick and didn't especially want Jack to rummage through her underwear drawer. In a moment of panic, she wondered where she had left her vibrator.

'Uh – bedroom on the right, top drawer of the dresser.'

'OK.'

Jack emerged a minute later and handed her the keys. There was not a flicker of amusement or embarrassment on his face.

'Thanks. You're a star. Did you have to smash a window?'

'No need. _Someone_ left the bedroom window open.' he looked sternly from Sam to Cat.

'You climbed up?'

He addressed the girls. 'You want to keep your lovely DVD collection, you need to keep your window shut when you go out. That's an invitation to a burglar.' Both girls looked awkard. 'Well,' Jack continued, 'I'll be going.'

'No – listen,' Rose said, 'stay for lunch. We're having soup. It's the least I can do.'

_The following takes place over lunch_.

The four could have been mistaken for a nuclear family, were it not for Jack's reluctance to raise his eyes beyond his soup-bowl. He seemed to find the cracked linoleum floor to be the safest place to rest his gaze.

'Hmm, this is good,' he managed.

'Mom makes us eat soup all the time. Says it's good for us.'

Jack looked up. He was beginning to tell between the identical twins – Sam was the one that talked incessantly. 'She's right.' he said blandly.

'So, Jack, you've done karate before, haven't you?' asked Rose.

'Yes ma'am'.

'When we're not at the dojo, you can call me Rose.'

Jack smiled. 'I did karate as a kid. It was a different type. I don't remember the katas much, just the basic moves.'

'What belt were you?' asked Sam.

'White. We just had white, brown and black. Only the teacher was a black-belt. I never got to brown.

'How come?' asked Sam.

'It was my mom started me going to classes. Then my dad made me give it up.'

'Why?' asked Rose.

Jack smiled. 'I – uh – punched him. Just once. Knocked him out cold.'

'You knocked your dad out?' Sam was letting her soup drip from her spoon.

Jack nodded, 'He was a tall guy and I was a skinny little thing. He didn't like being knocked out.'

'I'll bet,' said Rose, 'you learn your lesson?'

'No,' said Jack, truthfully, 'not for many years.'

'What lesson?' asked Sam.

'Don't mess with my dad.' said Jack, smiling.

'You still mess with him?' asked Sam.

'He passed away. It was a short while ago.'

There was another awkward silence. Even Jack was glad when Sam broke it.

'Jack used to be a cop. Got training in picking locks. Not a Navy SEAL, mom.'

Now it was Rose's turn to blush, but she recovered quickly, 'A cop, eh? Well you'd be the perfect person, then. What do you do on a Thursday evening?'

'Nothing, why?'

'I run a self-defence class for women. Rich women. Eight-week course. Arm locks and stuff. I need a partner, preferably a man, to do demos with. You know, you throw a punch, I pin you, that sorta stuff. Dead easy, if you were a cop. Hundred bucks a night. Easy money, if you're free.'

'A hundred dollars?' Jack asked.

'Starts next Thursday. Down at the gym. Give it a try once, if you don't like it I can always get someone else.'

'OK, you talked me into it.'

'Can I ask you a question, Jack?' Sam was on the case again.

'What's that?'

'Why d'you punch your dad?'

Jack shrugged. 'He made me mad. He was very strict. One day, I just decided I'd had enough.'

'What was he punishing you for?' she persisted.

Jack smiled easily and looked Sam in the eyes, 'Now _that_, I'm not going to tell you.'


	3. Chapter 3

**3Out of the closet**

_The following takes place in an LA coffee shop, about 2 months after Day 6._

The café's clientele matched it's tatty, run-down interior. It was also relatively quiet, as a new Starbucks had opened up just down the street and was taking much of the passing trade. A man sat at a table, dandling a rather grumpy infant on his knee. They made an odd couple, the baby in a cheery, designer romper-suit and the man in a grey T-shirt and worn jeans. He looked too old to be a stay-at-home father. A cold black coffee and an uneaten sandwich lay on the table.

Unannounced, a woman sat down next to him, causing him just a moment's surprise. She was tall, and lean, in her late thirties. Flowing brown hair reached her shoulders and her face conveyed beauty and confidence.

'Hey, Jack, what you doing here? Is the grandson you were telling me about?'

Her face softened at the sight of the baby, and she caught his eye in a vain attempt to win a smile.

'Rose, I didn't expect to see you here! Yes, this is Jack. Jack, meet Rose. She's another face you can whinge at while we wait for your mom.'

'What's the matter – too scared to change his diaper?' Rose quipped.

'He's hungry.' Jack replied matter-of-factly. The truth was, he wasn't cut out for baby-sitting, and felt all the more inadequate in the presence of a woman. It gave him some satisfaction to be able to say, with certainty, what the cause of the crying was.

'Well, why don't you feed him then?'

'Guess I just don't have what it takes,' he replied grimly, 'Kim was supposed to be here half an hour ago. She's doing an art course or something.'

'Well, in that case, Junior,' Rose addressed the baby, 'you're just going to have to wait. It'll taste all the better when it comes.'

Jack licked his finger, dipped it in the sugar-bowl and eased a sugar-coated knuckle into the baby's mouth. The baby, clearly unused to such delights, stopped crying and chewed contentedly. 'Don't let Kim hear you calling him 'Junior'. She likes people to call him Jack,' said Jack.

'She should've thought of that before calling him after you when you were still around, don't you think?'

Jack didn't have an answer to this one. It didn't seem like the right time to explain that he really hadn't been around at the time his daughter gave birth.

'So what did you think of the class last night?' Rose asked, taking advantage of the silence.

Jack considered. 'They're just all so..' he struggled for the right word.

'Useless?' Rose offered. They both laughed.

'I was going to say 'giggly'. They giggle too much.'

'They're civilians.'

'You're a civilian. You don't giggle.'

'I'm a fourth degree black-belt. That makes a difference.'

'Maybe,' Jack sounded unconvinced.

'Look. They're embarrassed because they're not fit, they're overweight, and they're not used to getting physical with a bunch of strangers. It's my job to get them through that and to teach them something. It's your job to throw a punch and let me pin you. And you do it well.' Rose began to smile, 'specially when you get in character. That was fun.'

'But you can't really teach them anything. I mean, at the end of 8 lessons, do you think they will be able to hold off a real attack?'

'A real attack from me or you? No. But from some wino? Maybe. Even if all I get them to do, in a real situation, is to shout loud, that's an achievement. Confidence. That's what it's all about.'

'Well, for a hundred bucks an evening I get to cat-call you and feel you up. Could be worse.'

'Are you actually looking for a proper job?' Rose asked.

Jack looked away to see a young blond woman half-walk, half-run, into the cafe and sit down next to the trio. She carried a large portfolio which she stuffed hurriedly under the table with one hand, while fumbling under the blouse with the other. Without a word, she took the baby from Jack and plugged him in, under her blouse.

'Hey, honey, how was class?' Jack enquired.

Kim pointed at the coffee, 'That yours?' Jack nodded, Kim drained it and started on the sandwich. 'Good. Long,' she managed with a mouthful of sandwich, 'How was it with Jack?'

'We went a couple times round the park. He was OK till he started getting hungry.'

'I know how he feels,' Kim gasped.

Jack got to his feet, clearly relieved to have been discharged of his duty without incurring anything disasters. 'Would you like something more?'

'Hmmm,' Kim nodded, 'anything.'

'Rose, something for you?' Only now did Kim notice Jack had company.

'I'm good, thanks.'

Jack nodded. 'Kim, this is Rose, my karate teacher. Rose, Kim. I'll let you two get to know each other', and he joined the queue for drinks.

'So,' Kim began, engaging the older woman, 'is he any good? At karate, I mean.'

Rose considered Jack from a distance, as if appraising his rear would help her answer the question. 'He could be if he keeps at it. His stance is OK. He needs to work on his flexibility. Get his kicks higher. Then he could be OK.'

'Hmm,' Kim nodded. 'Flexibility was never dad's strong point.' They both laughed, before falling into a slightly awkward silence.

'You know, your dad's a kinda scary man to have around.'

'How so?' Kim asked innocently.

'The other day. My daughter lost the keys down a drain. Keys to the car _and_ the house.'

'So my dad hotwired your car and broke into your house?' Kim finished the story for her.

Rose nodded, 'Does he often do that stuff?'

'Only sometimes.'

As they laughed, Rose noticed that a group of boys, aged 13 at most, sitting at the next table, were staring at Kim and whispering furtively among themselves. Every now and then, words filtered across the table that these boys would never have let their mothers hear. 'Ignore them. They'll soon get tired. They've probably just never seen anyone feed a baby before. So, you have a daughter?'

'Actually, three…'

Women talk easily about their children and Jack returned to find them deep in conversation. He brought food and drink for Kim, and a mineral water which he poured into two glasses: one for himself and one for Rose. 'How's the apartment?' Kim asked.

'Good' replied Jack. Got water, power, and broadband. All set.'

'Write me down your email,' said Kim, passing him a serviette, 'have you got a bed yet?'

'Don't need a bed.' growled Jack. 'I got two chairs,' he added, as if this would make up for the lack of a bed.

'Dad,' whined Kim in exasperation, 'you need a bed. You'll never get a girlfriend without a bed.'

Jack choked on his water. He steadfastly avoided Rose's eyes, 'Who said anything about a girlfriend?'

'Come off it, dad!' Kim noticed Rose was finding the encounter highly amusing. 'See how impossible my dad is? When he stayed with us, he had to sleep in the bathroom because he complained that the den carpet was too soft. Honestly!' and Kim raised her eyes to the ceiling. 'Kept on having to step over him if I wanted to take a leak at night.'

Rose now laughed out loud, glancing toward Jack, 'That's a story they'll love down the dojo.'

Jack gave the most unconcerned look he could muster, but the truth was that sleep was a sore point with him. He survived on exercise, coffee and amphetamines. If he needed to relax, he smoked. When he absolutely had to sleep, he found sewage smells strangely reassuring. He could take a bit of ribbing from the boys at the dojo, but would have preferred it if his daughter had had the sense to keep her mouth shut.

As Jack cast around for a change of subject, he became aware of the increase in volume from the table immediately behind him. For minors, they know some language, he thought to himself. 'Ignore them,' Kim instructed him in an undertone, 'they're just winding us up.'

Jack nodded.

'I'll bet he sucks on her at night.. That's gross, he's old enough to be her father…I bet he gets off on it… I wonder if he puts _her_ milk in his coffee…'

Kim sensed his change of gear. 'Eyes front, deep breaths. Dad, listen to me!' she whispered urgently.

Jack held her gaze, but the comments grew louder and bolder. Other people in the café were beginning to look on in interest. Jack made his decision. He looked at Kim calmly, 'You don't have to take this,' He got up, and turned around. Jack immediately clocked the ringleader of the boys and fixed him with a stare.

The boy laughed. 'You think it's funny?' Jack challenged. 'Today, you learn some respect – now apologise!' Jack used his command-voice.

The boy swallowed hard, staying silent. 'He's got a gun!' his friend whispered with some urgency.

'Dad, forget it. Leave it!' Kim whispered, but Jack continued to stare at the boy. He approached him quickly, grasped the boy by the ear and hauled him to his feet. Silence descended on the café, and some people started to leave. The boy looked from Kim to Jack with defiance on his face. 'She's disgusting. That's fucking illegal!' he said. Jack racheted up the pressure on his ear, making him stand on tiptoes, then dragged him round to the table where Kim still sat, with her baby contentedly at her breast.

'Apologise to my daughter NOW!' Jack was now shouting, and everyone in the café was either watching or leaving.

'Dad, you're embarrassing me, stop it!' Kim urged.

'Let the kid go,' came a deep voice from behind Jack and he heard the click of the safety coming off just a few feet away from his head. 'Newman, LAPD' the stranger flashed his badge so that the women could see it.

'Dad, it's a police officer. Let him go.'

Jack considered. He slowly raised his left hand, which was, in any case, a considerable distance from the Glock holstered on his right hip. He continued to grasp the boy's ear with his right hand. He kept his gaze forward, on task. Dealing with this armed officer could wait until he taught this little piece of shit a lesson. Nevertheless his movements were slow and deliberate, owing the weapon pointed at his head.

'Not till he says sorry.' said Jack. 'Ahhh' cried the boy, responding to another surge in pain, caused by Jack's hand, 'Sorry,' he mumbled, not daring to look anywhere but the floor. A tear had escaped his eye and was trickling down his soft cheek. He brushed it aside. He needn't have worried. His friends and the café's occupants had now vanished. Jack let him go in an instant and raised his right arm above his head to meet there with his left. He let the officer drop him to his knees and remove his Glock from its holster.

'Sit down' the officer said to the boy, not unkindly. Keeping his weapon trained at Jack's head, the officer asked, 'You got any other weapons?'

'I got my back-up here in a rig and two Microtech HALOs, one in my breast pocket and one in my left sock.' The officer looked quite taken aback both at the amount of hidden armoury and the candour of Jack's disclosure.

'Dad,' Kim whined 'you mean you left the RPG at home?'

Jack, head just above their table, flashed her a dangerous look. The officer quickly removed Jack's weapons and searched him. His pockets yielded keys, a wallet, some smokes and a lighter, as well as a shoelace, a paperclip, a rubber and a small round mirror.

'Regular boy-scout, I see.' said Newman. 'What's this for?' he showed Jack the mirror.

'In case I need to touch up my eye-liner.'

'Funny. You got a licence to carry a concealed weapon?'

'Of course.' Jack replied calmly.

'You use your firearms recently?'

'Two days ago, down the firing range. I signed in, you can check the records.'

'Listen, officer,' Kim interjected. 'My dad used to be a federal agent. Worked for the Counter-Terrorist Unit. He's having trouble adjusting to civilian life. The boys behind us were being verbally abusive because I'm feeding my baby. This one especially.' She pointed. 'He didn't draw his firearm, you saw that. He wouldn't have hurt him. Honest.'

The officer cuffed Jack's hands behind his back. 'Wait here and don't move. You ladies wait too, you're witnesses,' he ordered. 'Counter-terrorist, hey? Well,' he said moving closer to Jack's ear, 'You and your boys have been doing a shit job lately.'

Officer Newman retreated to check out Jack's credentials with dispatch and to talk to the boy.

Jack Bauer may not have worked for CTU for many years, but he was a loyal man, and the jibe about his old unit had really stung.

It's not that Jack was unused to kneeling with his hands restrained behind his back. In fact, apart from the itch in his nose, it felt pretty comfortable. Certainly more comfortable than trying to make conversation with his son-in-law, or trying to fall asleep in a bed. But if Jack could have picked out a person he didn't want to see him in this position, it would have been Rose Montgomery. Jack struggled to raise his eyes and meet Rose's incredulous gaze. 'Sorry about this,' he managed.

'You're not apologizing to me?!' Kim interjected.

That was enough to bring Jack back to his senses. 'Apologise to you? I was protecting you!'

'No you weren't. You were protecting yourself. You and your big, male ego. You need to control 'your' women. You can't bear the fact that I'm all grown up. You 'specially can't bear it that I chose to get married, have a kid and nurse him, _all_ without your permission!'

Jack _so_ hated it when his daughter was right. He swallowed and tried a conciliatory tone, 'Nice quip about the grenade launcher.'

'Hmmm. I learned to bullshit from the best,' Kim smiled.

'Oh? Who's that then?' Jack asked.

'Mom.' Kim replied and they both smiled. 'Mom would have shut them up with one dirty look.'

'Yes,' Jack agreed. 'Right now she'd be sweet-talking Officer Newman. And I'd be in the dog-house for a week, after this.' He closed his eyes, smiled, and allowed himself, just for a moment, to enjoy the fantasy of Teri berating his lack of tact.

'Hey, Bauer!' Newman was speaking to Jack from behind his back. 'There's something I don't get. Your driver's licence was renewed two months ago. Your IRS card, all you bank cards, all issued on the same date two months ago. What's this all about?'

It would have been the first thing Jack would have noticed if inspecting his own wallet professionally. Officer Newman noticed. Clearly the man was not stupid. Yet Jack did not want any more details about his past to reach Rose like this. He knew how women liked certain things handled. Sensitively. Not like this.

Jack mustered some contempt in his reply. 'Are you going to arrest me for having my wallet stolen? Fine. Take me down the station and ask me your questions there.'

'Keep your hair on, I was just asking. You've been co-operating, just stay relaxed.'

'Co-operating, huh?' Jack quipped. 'That can change real fast!'

Newman decided not to reply to his one, but continued to question the boy, who was crying, looking at his feet and holding onto his ear. A call came through on his walkie-talkie. Dispatch's voice was not audible to Kim, Rose and Jack.

'Yeah, I got him here in restraints. Looked like he might have caused trouble.' he told them.

Dispatch's next communication made the blood drain from Officer Newman's face. He ended the call abruptly and approached Jack, this time from the side, so that he could see his face.

Newman spoke softly so that the boy and the cafe manager couldn't hear, but his words were plainly audible to Kim and Rose, 'Are you the Bauer from CTU that found the nukes, defused them and got Fayyed?' he stammered breathlessly.

Rarely had Jack felt such a strong desire for the earth to open up and swallow him. Failing that, he would have loved to bury his now reddening face in his hands, which however, remained steadfastly cuffed behind his back. He felt the shock of Rose's reaction like a punch in his exposed face.

When he spoke he cursed his inability to keep his voice steady. 'That's not quite how it went down.'

Newman's demeanor changed instantly. Suddenly, it was all a joke, 'Man, why didn't you say?' He gave Jack a brotherly pat on the back, before uncuffing him and returning his weapons. In a stab at professionalism he said, 'Looks like your weapons licences check out, too. Sorry about that, can't be too careful.'

Jack remained stony and checked the clips before returning his firearms to their rightful places.

'The kid's not talking. Doesn't want to get in more trouble. Listen I really am sorry about this.'

'It's OK, you were doing your job,'

Newman smiled weakly at the manager and said, 'Well, I guess I'll leave you to it then,' and walked away. The boy also ran out, leaving the three adults in awkward silence. Kim's baby emerged from his sanctuary to give a loud belch that broke the silence. Jack sat down.

'Listen, Rose…' but words failed him.

'You'd rather I kept this quiet?' she finished for him.

Jack nodded, holding her eyes in his gaze.

'Which bit? The bit about you being a federal agent, defusing nukes, keeping a flick-knife at your ankle, or assaulting a minor?'

Jack was still struggling to keep his voice even. 'That pretty much covers it, yeah.'

'Oh Jack,' she shook her head, 'they would have so much fun with this down the dojo! They would rip you to shreds!' Rose had clearly regained her sense of humour.

Jack bit his lip. Kim interjected, 'That's almost as much ribbing as Officer Newman is going to get at shift change tonight.' At this even Jack managed a weak smile.

'Ah, look, I need to pick up the girls.' Rose stood as if to go. 'Then we have karate later. Are you coming Jack?'

'Not tonight, I have a dinner date' he nodded toward Kim. 'See you Saturday'.

'Bye'

Jack and Kim sat in silence as the cafe slowly regained customers. Jack Junior reached out to paw his grandfather's face, and held him with a contented smile.

'She seems nice. Have you done a background check on her?' Kim asked lightly.

'Not yet. I'll call Chloe in the morning.'


	4. Chapter 4

**4Kiss**

_The following takes place in an LA gym approximately a week after 'Out of the closet'._

The smell of sweaty sneakers pervaded the gym hall in which Jack Bauer now slept, standing up, leaned against a wall, his head drooping gently to the rhythm of his breathing. Rose smiled in his direction as she saw off the last remaining clients of their womens' self-defence class. Of course she'd be able to wake him up.

She approached him and nudged his shoulder, 'Wakey wakey, it's time.'

No response.

She held her fingers to his neck, partly to reassure herself that there was a pulse, and partly because she figured touching a more vulnerable part of his body might rouse him.

She bit her lip in thought, then shouted in his ear with considerable force, 'BAUER! EYES OPEN! MOVE!!'

Jack was awake in an instant, his eyes immediately open, taking in his surroundings, but she could see that behind them his brain was struggling to remember where he was. Then he saw her, and it came to him.

'Where are they?' he asked.

'Gone home,' Rose replied, 'class is finished,' she added when she saw he still didn't understand.

Finally Jack put the pieces together. Unable to face small-talk with their clients at break time, he had stayed behind in the hall to do a few stretches. His eyes had suddenly felt dry and heavy, so he had closed them for a second. It had been a mistake, a lapse in stamina.

'Trouble sleeping at night?' Rose ventured.

Jack hadn't slept at all for two days and nights, but this was neither the time nor the place.

'Why didn't you wake me?' he asked, accusingly.

'Did try, but you were sound out,' Rose replied, 'we weren't exactly quiet in the second half.'

Jack could just picture the scene: twenty women standing in front of his slumbering form, giggling, while Rose made some feeble attempt to rouse him. It was a scene he was glad he had missed.

'Come, help me put the equipment away,' Rose instructed. Jack was pleased of the chance to do something to relieve his embarrassment. Rose could sense his unease, and the two worked efficiently and almost wordlessly to tidy the hall of their equipment. Then Rose delved into her bag and held out an envelope to Jack.

He looked at her with some incredulity, 'I can't take that – I slept on the job!'

'Hm, well, we got on OK without you, and it did help bring the group together, to gel, laughing, you know, so, no harm done.' Rose continued to proffer the envelope.

'I still can't take it' he said, a little louder this time. He was more than a little annoyed. She seemed intent on wounding his pride still further.

'Jack, for fuck's sake, just take it. It makes no difference to the running of the course. _They_ pay your wage. That's the way it works. Will you just take the fucking money?' and with that she reached inside his jacket to his inner breast pocket, and inserted the envelope.

He grabbed her hand reflexively. She shouldn't have done that. She knew he kept a knife there. He shouldn't have allowed her to get in so close. It was another mistake. He was getting way too lax.

Rose made no resistance to the grab. She knew a dozen manouvres to block, pin, throw, or disable Jack from this position, and was more than capable of executing them. Instead she let him hold her.

The two were quite used to physical contact. Normally she would be correcting his stance in a kata, or pushing his stretch just a little further. But this was different.

As the two stood looking into each other's eyes, Jack extended his other hand to behind her neck, brought her in closer, and kissed her. The hand that had grabbed was now worming its way round her slim waist, and the hand that had been grabbed was grasping his shoulder. The kiss was deep and passionate. Jack was almost surprised to discover he still knew how to do this. Rose pressed her body closer to his and closed her eyes. She only opened them as their lips parted, and held his gaze.

'So tell me,' she whispered softly, 'is that a gun in your pocket?'

Jack grinned, and kissed her gently once more. His voice was gravelly, 'You know fine well what's in my pocket.'

'Course I do, I just wanna hear you say it.' Rose teased him.

'OK, then,' he took a deep breath, 'There is a Glock, but I also like you.'

Rose grinned, keeping her arm around his shoulder, 'Well, we've got that out of the way. Now what?

'That's just what I was thinking,' replied Jack, as if this constituted a reply. He took a deep breath, 'what about dinner at my place? A chance to talk?'

Jack knew all about Rose's past from the background check Chloe had run. He knew that despite having a fair few skeletons in her closet, she was who she said she was. She would make an 'appropriate partner' for Jack in that she had no connections to major crime of any sort. She was no Nina. Nevertheless there was a lot that Jack had to tell her, and a lot that he couldn't tell her, about his past. It might scare her off. If she couldn't hack it, they were better off apart.

He had known it was going to be like this with any new partner once he let Audrey go. He knew every day he resisted taking comfort in a prostitute, he would one day need to have this conversation with a woman before they could make love. And he dreaded it.

'Talk?' Rose enquired. 'When you said dinner at your place I rather thought you might have something else on your mind?'

'Oh, I do,' Jack smiled, 'but…'

'It's OK, I understand. You're worried if we have sex, I'll go easy on you in your stretches, and you'll never get your kicks high enough.' Rose jibed.

Jack exhaled, unable to keep his face straight.

'It's OK, this won't change a thing. I promise to keep this quiet down the dojo. Scout's honour, your secrets are safe with me.'

Jack scratched his eyebrow. 'I appreciate that. What about your girls?'

'Not a word,' Rose reassured him. 'I can get my sister to babysit, they're used to that and they won't ask questions. Tell me – did you ever get a bed?'

The pair were now heading out the gym, bags over shoulders, still holding hands.

'No, I never did.'


	5. Chapter 5

**5Dinner**

_The following takes place in Jack's apartment, a few days after 'kiss'_

Jack was on his cell, wordlessly watching his potatoes boil, when the doorbell rang.

He opened the door to let Rose in, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw her. Previously, he had only seen her wear a karategi or a tracksuit - now she wore a black satin strapless number with high-heeled shoes and a tightly tailored jacket. Her hair was up and she wore make-up and jewellery. Jack reckoned her breasts were at least two inches higher than normal and wondered what kind of magic she had used to achieve this. He saw her, for the first time, with a feminine figure, and was drawn to the area around her neck and collar-bones. He had, on many occasions while sparring, attempted to punch her here, but now felt a greater urge to caress, to lick. He had been naive, he supposed, to expect her not to dress up, but he hoped she was not too disappointed in his comparatively paltry efforts. At least he had shaved that morning and pressed his shirt. That would need to do.

He let her in, squeezed her hand, and said without taking his eyes off her, 'Listen, Marilyn, a friend just dropped by, can we talk later?... Yeah, OK, bye.'

'Hey Jack,' Rose smiled and the two embraced and kissed. Jack was surprised to find himself filled with a second urge. He wanted to frisk her for listening devices, but felt this wouldn't go down too well under the circumstances. He ran one hand down her neck and spine and felt her breast with the other – that was about as far as he felt he could go under the excuse of 'amorous desire'.

They parted somewhat hesitantly and Rose looked around. The one-room apartment was bare, roomy and clean. A small table was set for two next to the kitchenette. In one corner, a rolled-up camping mat and some neatly folded blankets made up his sleeping arrangements. A desk held a lap-top and a few books and files. The only internal door led, she presumed, to the bathroom. A folded clothes rail, now empty, told her that he did his own laundry. Only a skipping rope and some barbells gave any indication as to what he did with his spare time.

Jack watched her eyes as she took all this in. A pang of guilt caught him in the solar plexus when she looked at the table. 'If this had been Audrey, there would have been flowers,' he thought, and then immediately chastised himself. This was no time to be thinking about Audrey.

'Something smells nice' began Rose, 'I've been wondering since you asked me to dinner, uh, if you're any good at … cooking.'

'I guess you'll soon find out.' Jack replied, 'would you like a drink?'

'Depends. What have you got?'

'Uh beer, beer, and scotch. There's some wine with the meal.'

'I'll have a beer, thanks.'

Jack opened two beers and offered one. He, however, didn't drink. Of all times, he needed a clear head right now.

There was a slightly awkward silence as Jack checked the vegetables.

'So, if you don't mind me asking, who is Marilyn?'

'My sister-in-law. My nephew's a bit … mixed-up right now. She thinks I can help.'

'What do _you_ think?'

'I don't know,' Jack shook his head.

'Maybe he should come to karate too. Karate's good for mixed-up people.' Rose said.

Jack didn't reply to this. Eventually he said, 'Let's eat,' and they sat down,

'Hmm, this is really quite OK,' said Rose appreciatively, 'how did you learn to cook?'

'Between the army…' Jack began, but Rose interrupted, 'the army taught you to cook?

'No,' Jack smiled. 'My wife, Teri, taught me to cook. The army taught me to eat… _anything_, which is a useful skill to have when you're learning to cook.'

'So Teri – this is Kim's mom?'

'Was'.

'And she's not around any more?'

'No. She passed away.'

'I'm sorry.'

They ate in awkward silence. Finally, when Jack could bear it no more, he asked, 'How are the girls?' He knew he was bad at small talk, he also knew how much women liked talking about their kids, and felt this was a safe subject.

'Look, Jack, let me help you out here. Clearly, you're not in this for the one-night stand, or we'd have had sex already.'

Jack remained silent, hoping he had remembered to close his mouth.

'You lied when you said you were just a cop. You're this government agent hot-shot, whatever, which means you've got lots of stuff you can't tell me. Classified. Fine. You need to know I'm OK with that and that I won't go blabbing to the press or shit about any stuff I do hear. Like the other day in the coffee house. Fine, I can keep my mouth shut. Maybe you're still into it, maybe you're 'adjusting to civilian life' like Kim said. Whatever it is, you just go ahead and get on with it. You like to carry a gun. Lordy knows I'm sure it's loaded and you know how to use it. You have a license for it, that's OK. You don't bring it down the dojo coz you know that's not allowed. It's all fine, Jack, you're not the only one with piss on your shoes.'

Rose paused. Jack swallowed hard. He hadn't expected this, and the bit about not taking a loaded firearm into the dojo wasn't _entirely_ accurate. Still, so far so good.

'One more thing,' Rose continued, 'You've had some bad shit happen. I don't know what – work related, or family, whatever, but you've been at rock bottom lately and you're picking yourself up. That's why you smoke when you know it's bad for you. That's why you can't sleep. Kim's been good to you, and you're grateful. You see, you don't need to tell me, I already know. There's just one thing I need to ask you, Jack.'

Jack hesitated, unsure if she'd actually finished. Eventually he said, 'what's that?'

'Right now are you seeing anyone else?'

'No,' This came without hesitation.

'Me neither.'

'Right well,' Jack ventured, 'that's clear then… You know, you are good. Did you ever think of working for the CIA?'

Rose smiled and ate some more.

'Would you like me to fill in a few details?' Jack asked.

'Only if you want.'

Jack spoke slowly, considering every word. 'About four years ago I knew some people were after me. I went into hiding – I had a different name, the works. Kim thought I was dead.' Jack paused momentarily at the look of horror on Rose's face, but decided to plough on. It was somehow easier when he was in flow. 'Turned out, I had to come out of hiding. The people that were after me, got me. I've spent the better part of the last two years being – detained.'

'Detained – how? Detained prison or detained kidnapped?' Rose asked.

Jack didn't answer.

'I mean there's a difference. One way you get convicted for something you've done, the other is illegal. It kind of matters.' Rose persisted.

Jack struggled. 'Somewhere between the two,' he managed finally.

'That means you must have done something. What was your crime?'

Jack considered. 'Breaking and entering. Anyway,' he continued, re-establishing the initiative, 'in the time I was away, Kim got married, had a kid – was that a surprise when I got back!'

'So, you're saying, when you were 'detained' you had no contact?'

'That's right.'

'And where were you detained?'

'That I can't tell you.' Jack replied.

Rose nodded. 'And this detention – is that where you got the marks on the soles of your feet?' Rose been curious ever since she saw them – fine white scars that meant deliberate and cruel torture – but had had the sense not to raise the subject.

Jack suddenly found his mouth drying up. He gave the briefest of nods. He became aware of his own breathing and fought to control it.

'Would you like some more mince, there's plenty?' he asked.

'Please, I haven't eaten since breakfast.'

Jack piled her plate high with seconds. 'Now how about you? You said something about piss on shoes.'

Rose seemed shaken out of a deep reverie, 'There's something I need to ask you first. I don't want to sound paranoid, but, before all this stuff, were you seeing someone?'

'Yes'

'And she thought you were dead, or … or she didn't wait?'

Jack sighed. 'She waited. But we're … not together now.'

'She waited … that's powerful. Jack, this is stuff I need to know.'

'OK. It wouldn't have worked out between us.'

'Why not?'

'It's complicated…. Her father didn't approve of me.' Jack mustered at last.

Rose laughed, 'Oh Jack, only you could say that.' But she was not to be side-tracked so easily. 'Her father doesn't approve and you, you back off? What, you asked his _permission_ or something?'

'No, it's more complicated than that.' Jack shifted uncomfortably. He had underestimated Rose's talent for finding points of vulnerability. Clearly, evasion was not going to work here, and neither did he want to lie. Attack seemed his only option. He raised his hackles.

'Look, I haven't slept with her for over four years. I'm not in touch with her. I don't know her cell number or her address. We're not together!' He held Rose's eyes in his own.

'Okay, okay,' Rose began a hasty retreat, 'I believe you. You can't blame me for asking.'

Jack knew how to win graciously – allow the opponent a retreat that saves face. He softened. 'No, it's OK. Sorry if I shouted.'

Rose then told Jack her own story: abuse by her drunken father, a relationship with a violent partner followed by another relationship with a violent partner. After the birth of the twins, Sam and Cat, she had realized her need to take control, found karate, and got a divorce. And custody. And an injunction. Jack pretended the story was news to him. There were some details that she now missed out – the conviction for attempted murder of her second husband and two years in jail - Jack made a mental note of this. It didn't bother him. On the contrary, he knew the s.o.b. had deserved it, and would have thought less of Rose if she had done nothing. The fact that she was bothering to hide this also meant that she cared what he thought – this he took as a good sign.

As they finished their meal she ended saying, 'so I've not been keen on men ever since.'

Jack felt his stomach lurch and said 'Dammit!'

'What is it?'

'I've just realized. I forgot dessert. That's what you do, you invite someone, you have a main course, then you have cheesecake, or ice-cream or something. I haven't got anything for dessert!' He looked bereft.

Rose started to laugh. 'It's OK, I don't normally eat that shit anyway.'

'I got apples, can I offer you an apple?'

'No, honest I'm full,' Rose replied, laughing.

'What about some coffee?'

'Coffee would be great. Uh – Jack – I'm just going to freshen up.'

'Bathroom's through there,' Jack indicated.

When she emerged, Rose avoided sitting down again. She joined Jack in the kitchenette.

'I guess this is when I notice I don't have any couch or easy-chairs.' He muttered apologetically.

'What do you do in the evenings?' Rose asked.

'I'll do some katas, or go on the internet. Or I walk outside. I like just - going out.' Jack knew that Rose understood what it meant to be in a cell, and what it meant to be free to walk out the door. Jack paused, 'Kim was right, I am … adjusting.'

'Can you tell me anything about when you were detained?'

'Not really, no…' Jack's voice trailed away to silence. Rose put a hand on his shoulder, 'It's OK,' she whispered, 'it's over now.' And Rose's hands crawled up his back under his shirt. She began to undress him.

'Wait,' Jack stopped her and turned out the lights except for a weak lamp in the corner, 'that's better.'

If Rose was repelled by the mass of scarring on Jack's torso, she hid it well. Jack soon gave her other things to think about, anyway.

_The following takes place some time later that same evening_

Jack breathed in deeply and savoured the mixed smells of sweat, semen and rubber which they had generated in the corner of the apartment.

'Am I too heavy?' Rose asked.

'Not at all.'

'No, really, I don't want to hurt your ribs.'

Jack put both arms around her and squeezed. 'You're not,' he said.

Rose rested her head on his collar bone. 'I'm glad you kissed me the other night.'

He kissed her hair, 'Me too.'

'You know I've been watching you for a while. I just have this … professional thing … But I'd been thinking of making a move …'

Jack interrupted, 'It's good you didn't.'

Rose stopped in her tracks. 'What?'

'I can't date a woman who makes the first move.'

She sat bolt upright, straddling his hips. Jack thought she was about to hit him, and wondered briefly where she would aim. There was no going back now.

'You've got about 10 seconds to explain yourself.' There was an edge in Rose's voice he hadn't heard before.

He looked her in the eye. 'I can't be targeted. I can't let myself be targeted,' he said simply.

'Targeted?'

'Come here,' he said and laid out an arm for her to rest on. She lay back down, a little reluctantly. 'I need to be careful, who I let get close to me. That's all.'

She took this in. 'You think I'm some KGB agent come to get secrets out of you?' she asked, laughing, but Jack did not laugh.

'Are you?' he asked, and gave a penetrating stare.

Their eyes were only inches apart, and she could not bear his gaze. She tried to wriggle away, but a hand at the base of her spine held her in close. 'I'm sorry,' he said, and kissed her forehead, 'I had to.'

'You live in a weird world, you know that, don't you?' Rose asked, beginning to relax again.

Jack chuckled, 'Yeah, I guess I do.'

Rose decided to change the subject. 'You know, I've never done it on a yoga mat before.' She snuggled into Jack's bare chest, her ear directly above his heart, deftly fingering his right nipple.

'Not as bouncy.' Jack murmured, kissing her head. 'You comfy now?'

'Hmm, very. So, is this the first time since you got out?'

'Yeah….. Listen, when d'you need to get back?'

'Midnight.'

'Or you turn into a pumpkin?'

Rose laughed, 'my sister Susan's baby-sitting. She has to work tomorrow. So do I. Hmmm, it would be so nice just to lie like this all night.'

Jack ran a finger-nail lightly down Rose's spine, right to her buttocks, making her body squirm into his. He liked her body – muscular where it mattered, and, he had just discovered, very supple. It seemed that only her breasts and lips held any softness, and these he liked very much.

'So,' Rose began as her hand ran down Jack's body, until it found his scrotum and nestled there, 'All together, how many women have you ever slept with?'

'Ever?' Jack asked. Rose nodded. It occurred to Jack that she was paying attention to both his heart-rate and his breathing. This had to be the most bizarre polygraph test he had ever faced. He was deep in thought for several minutes. Finally he answered 'thirteen.'

'Really? Is that all?'

'Teri and I were married when we were both very young. We were together for a long time.

'And when you were married were you faithful to her?'

Jack felt his testicles gently rising and falling between Rose's nimble fingers. Points of vulnerability were clearly her specialty. 'Mostly,' he replied.

'Mostly? What does mostly mean?'

'It means _mostly_,' Jack replied testily, resisting the temptation to remove her hand. 'What about you, how many women have you slept with?' Jack continued.

Rose grinned, 'A lot more than thirteen! Are you surprised?'

'No,' Jack answered, honestly. 'And how many men?'

'Just my two husbands, not counting my dad, he doesn't count.'

'You were completely faithful?'

'I would have been dead otherwise,' Rose answered without a hint of humour.

'Were they?'

'Are you kidding?' Rose had by now loosened her grip on Jack's scrotum. He seemed to have passed the test. 'What about you, you ever had sex with a man?'

Jack didn't answer immediately. When he did his voice was gravelly, 'Does assault count?'

This caught Rose off-guard. 'What, you mean …'

But the look in his eyes prevented her from finishing the question, and suddenly she understood. 'No,' she answered reassuringly, 'that doesn't count.'

The lay in silence for some minutes, Jack relieved this particular topic had been exhausted.

'So,' Rose finally said, 'Where do we take it from here?'

'Like you said, I'm not in this for the one night stand. And I like you.'

'Like to do this again sometime?'

'Definitely' replied Jack. 'But I guess you want to keep this quiet at the dojo and from your kids.'

'Yes I do.'

'That's cool,' and he kissed her once more.


	6. Chapter 6

**6Jasmine**

_The following takes place in Jack's apartment approximately 4 months after Day 6._

Jack's world went black and his entire being was taken over by an intense pain in his right forearm. He inhaled and the floor of his apartment swam into focus in front of him.

'Sorry,' came a female voice.

'S'all right,' Jack managed, righting himself again. He flexed the fingers of his right hand. 'I think you've got that one covered now.'

'Now you try it on me,' said his female companion.

'No.' Jack replied firmly. 'That one, I already know.'

'Jack,' said Rose with some irritation. 'You know I'll feel bad if you don't.'

'Go ahead,' Jack replied, 'feel bad, see if I care. Are we doing another one?'

Jack's apartment was the ideal place for these sessions. It was sparsely furnished and offered just enough room for the two to practice katas together. True, the floor lacked carpet and was hard to fall on, but both Jack and Rose took this in their stride as 'good for falling practice'. Now Rose had acquired a list of pressure points she wanted to try out, and Jack made a willing guinea-pig. In truth, Jack enjoyed these sessions almost as much as when they made love. He gained no pleasure out of letting her hurt him, but he found her passion for the subject inspiring. He had never known a woman to be so single-minded in the pursuit of the art of unarmed combat. Devoted as she was to karate, she made it her business to be conversant in Ju-Jitsu and Kung-Fu, anything she could learn which might one day be 'useful'. More than anything, Jack simply enjoyed getting physical with her. Besides, some of the pressure points on her list were new to him too. He had found a point on the wrist which, if tapped in the right way, stopped an opponent from breathing. A rub on the elbow which made the opponent go weak at the knees. Jack Bauer was learning something, and that made him happy. He was also falling in love, and that made him happier still.

'Can you manage one more?' Rose asked.

'Long as it doesn't involve this bit,' he replied, indicating his right forearm.

'It doesn't.'

'What does it involve?'

'Not telling. Here,' she gave him the hairbrush from her purse, 'Pretend this is a knife. You're gonna stab me.'

Jack took the hairbrush. 'Is this gonna knock me out?' He asked lightly.

But the doorbell rang before Rose could reply. 'Probably just my neighbour, they've been having plumbing problems', he said. Jack slid into his sneakers and tucked his Glock in his pants waistband. He checked through the spyhole.

What he saw through the spyhole made his whole body taughten. He motioned for Rose to be quiet, and took his Glock in his right hand. It all happened before Rose could begin to ask questions. He opened the door, dragged a woman inside, swept the feet from under her, and threw her bodily to the floor. She was a petite, oriental woman, smartly dressed in pants and a blouse. Her light body slammed the floor so hard, she actually bounced. Jack had removed the purse from her hand, and checked that corridor was clear in both directions, before she regained her breath. His movements seamless, Jack grabbed the hair behind her head and pulled her back to her feet, slamming against the now closed door and shouting, 'HANDS AGAINST THE DOOR!'.

As Rose looked on in horror, two things struck her about the stranger. The first was that the woman did not seem in the least surprised by Jack's unconventional greeting, and the second was that she intended to protect herself by appeasing him. She could tell this from the woman's face, and especially her eyes. Rose had spent the greater part of her life appeasing violent men, and she knew this to be a reasonably effective survival strategy. She decided not to intervene for the time being.

Jack began frisking the stranger, keeping his Glock trained on her at all times. Without giving her a second to relax he shouted, 'Who else knows you're here?'

The woman only gave a simper. 'WHO ELSE KNOWS YOU'RE HERE?' Jack demanded a second time.

'N.. no one. I live alone.' She spoke good, clipped English with a distinct Chinese accent.

'WHY DID YOU COME?' Jack continued.

'I wanted to talk to you.'

'How did you find me?'

'I work at the Good Samaritan. You were there last week, with blond woman and baby. He had minor head injury. I saw you but you did not recognize me. I knew you were out, in LA. I have access to medical records. You were treated for rib injury. I had your address.'

Jack stared at her. Her story was plausible. He had driven Kim to the hospital after Jack had fallen and bumped his head. He now addressed Rose, 'Maggie, peek through the blinds. Don't show your face. Tell me if you see any vans parked there. Don't use your voice, just nod or shake you head.'

Rose at least had the sense not to ask why he was calling her 'Maggie' thought Jack. He took the Chinese woman firmly by the arm, led her to the bathroom, and pushed her inside. Leaving the door open he commanded, 'Strip! – Start taking your clothes off NOW! Leave them there on the floor.'

Rose caught Jack's attention and shook her head. He indicated for her to be quiet and sit, angling her chair out of the bathroom's line-of-sight. Jack watched the stranger as she obeyed his last command, scrutinizing her for any signs of concealment or sudden movements. Keeping the Glock trained on her, he reached into his closet for his bathrobe and two cable ties.

'That's enough!' he said when she reached a state of undress which satisfied Jack. 'Now, put your hands above your head and turn around full circle – I need to see you're not wearing any listening devices.' He added, as much for Rose's benefit as for hers, as Rose was staring at him in disbelief.

When he could see she was clean, he threw her his robe, saying 'Put this on. Come out here.'

Soon the Chinese woman was sitting next to Rose with her hands bound to the chair by cable ties. Jack's bathrobe was ample on her and covered her from neck to foot. Jack stood. There were only two chairs in the apartment.

Jack paused briefly to send a text message on his cell. He then next turned his attention to the contents of the stranger's bag. He emptied them onto the table, before methodically inspecting the bag and every item contained in it. He paid particular attention to her wallet and diary, which was American, but had been written in Chinese. When satisfied that the contents of her bag were not likely to cause immediate harm, he put them in the bathroom with her clothes and shut the door.

'There' he said at last, 'now we can talk.' He looked Rose in the eye, 'If she has a bug on her clothes, it won't pick up through the door. It's safe to talk if you need to. But this is not the time for questions, I promise I will explain everything when this is over.'

'Should I even be here?' Rose asked.

Jack nodded, 'Right now, you're safest here.'

'Safest?'

Jack did not respond to the question, but locked the Chinese woman into his glare, 'Jasmine, tell me the _real_ reason you came.'

She sobbed. 'I shouldn't have come.'

'NO YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE!' Jack shouted, banging his fist on the table, 'But you're here now so we've both got to make the best of it – why did you come?'

But the woman could only sob. Jack wanted her scared, not hysterical. He holstered his Glock, brought her a handkerchief and a cup of water. With her hands bound, she needed his help to dry her face and sip the water. Jack remarked, 'Now what does this remind you of?'

She calmed down and managed a weak smile.

'I hope to fuck you've not come for an apology' Jack said calmly, 'because you're not getting one.'

'No – it was not your fault.' She took a deep breath. 'I live in US now. The reason I came was to hear your voice and to see if your back OK.'

Jack held her in a steady gaze. 'Let me tell you how this is gonna work,' Jack began. 'I am a Law Enforcement Officer which means I can have your green card revoked any time. I ask the questions, you give me answers. Some things I already know, so I'll know if you're lying. Do you understand?'

'Afterward, will you let me go?'

Jack considered. 'The police might have more questions for you. But if you've committed no crime in this country they have no reason to hold you.'

She nodded. Jack began. 'Your name. I mean your real name, I know you call yourself Jasmine in English.'

Slowly, Jack extracted the woman's story. Her real name Ju Li Wang, she had grown up in Nanjing, China, spending two years of her youth with cousins in LA, where she learned English. On leaving school she had obtained a government grant to study nursing, which tied her to work wherever her government wanted for five years upon qualifying. After working in a local hospital for a year, she was seconded to a detention facility near Shanghai which doubled as a transplant specialist centre. She was an ideal candidate to work there, as she spoke English, and many organ-recipients were foreign. She worked in theatre, and post-operative care, but also as required with the detainees, giving first aid or siting intra-venous lines for interrogation. Only the most dangerous criminals were kept there, she told Jack, for life-sentence or capital punishment. Detail after detail he extracted from her about her work, the layout of the facility and other government buildings. At one point he released her left hand so that she could draw schematics for him. Rose thought Jack was just being difficult until the woman picked up the pencil and began to draw. She then began to wonder what Jack knew about this woman apart from the fact that she was left-handed. Jasmine broke down in tears when Jack demanded she label the schematics ('If it in my handwriting they can trace it to me. I have mother and brother in Nanjing. Please, Jack…') He relented and allowed her to dictate to Rose.

It was all low-grade intel to Jack, and while it came, he continued to milk it. Sometimes he paced the floor, sometimes towered above her and sometimes got down on his haunches to be level with her eyes. Sometimes he repeated questions she had already answered, or pretended to have misunderstood, trying to catch her out. Sometimes he interrupted her, or shouted. But her story was consistent. Jack's instincts told him that she was probably telling the truth.

'You were assigned to me because you spoke English. They wanted you to get me to talk.'

Jasmine nodded. 'I recognized you from medical interrogation. They told me you very, very dangerous. Had killed lots of people. Prisoners not normally in hospital, it make problems in security. So you, you – sorry, I not know the word in English. Your hands and feet, to the bed.'

Jack paused, then said slowly, 'The word you are looking for is 'shackled.''

'You were … shackled?' Jasmine asked, as if awaiting confirmation she had pronounced the new word correctly.

'I noticed,' he said dryly, 'Continue.'

'My instructions were, make him talk. Doesn't matter what he say. If all he say is 'water', that good. Once you were conscious, I had to keep things out of your reach. Make you say what you wanted. This did not work. You were stubborn like donkey and you did not care whether you live or die.'

Jack smiled. 'You were _way_ too obvious. I knew what you were doing, and I knew why. I knew you'd give me the water eventually.'

'Then I say to Cheng, this not working. Let me try another way. Let me bring chess board and book. Let him walk outside. You like that. They not let me give you analgesia. Just antibiotics.'

'Tell me, did you really put maggots in my back? Or was that some mind game you were playing?' Jack asked, and noticed that Rose shuddered.

Jasmine nodded, 'Maggot therapy save your life. Antibiotics not enough. Open wounds, bad infection. You very sick with infection.' She paused. 'Jack, I have question.'

Jack gave no response, which Jasmine took as consent to ask.

'Why you not talk all that time? Not even to me? Three weeks day and night I look after you and you not even say 'check-mate'?

Jack breathed heavily. 'I knew what they were going to do. At least I suspected. It had happened before with a guard. He was friendly. Started teaching me Chinese. They used him to try to get me to talk. They cut his…' Jack broke off and sighed. 'So no, I wasn't keen to be your friend. What happened afterward?'

'Cheng tell me this result of my failure. You not talk, I fail, I punished. After I heal, they offer me to get out of China. Help getting green card and job in hospital here. But I cannot go back.'

Jack nodded. He seemed deep in thought.

Jasmine again plucked up the courage to ask a question. 'How your back now?'

Jack shrugged, ''bout the same as yours.' And with that he lifted the back of his shirt to his shoulder blades and turned to that she could see.

It suddenly struck Rose that for all the time they had spent together, she had never seen so much of him in good light. He had always been careful to dim the lights before undressing. It had seemed a little odd to her that a man of his age should be self-conscious about his appearance, but now she understood.

'Ah – that much better!' Jasmine said, smiling, 'much better, I do good job on you!'

'You were very thorough.' said Jack tersely.

Jack's cell rang. He barely spoke, but removed the pencil from the table, walked to the entrance, and opened the door. Four CTU agents entered and introduced themselves.

'How d'you want to play this?' Special Agent Evans asked Jack.

'Who's on guard duty?'

'I am', replied agent Gonzalez.

'You two,' Jack addressed the other two. 'Take her to the van. Wait there.'

As the men moved toward Jasmine she again began to sob. 'This is for your own protection,' Jack told her. 'If what you're telling me is true, it's dangerous for you to be seen near my apartment. You understand?' He held eye contact long enough for her to nod, and then placed a hood over her head, covering her face. The two CTU agents found her an old jacket and slippers belonging to Jack, and escorted her out, hands cuffed behind her back.

When the door had closed, he addressed Rose, who sat as if in a daze, and had lost all track of time. 'Your girls will be home from school soon. You are getting protection from Agent Gonzalez here – you got a first name?'

'Hesus'

'Jack, what are you talking about? I don't need protection!' protested Rose.

'Probably not, but you're getting it anyway.' Jack took a deep breath. 'If she's lying and the Chinese are after me again, you are in danger. The girls, too.'

Rose looked winded. 'But what do I tell them? We need a body-guard because…'

'Don't tell them anything, let Hesus here do the talking.'

Agent Gonzalez looked like he would rather poke needles in his eyes than make up a story that would satisfy Rose's daughters.

'Tell them anything. Tell them Tom's after them.' Jack suggested.

'That will terrify them!'

'Not as much as the truth. Rose, is this how you want them to find out about us? All we need is some time to check out her story. Read her diary, check her phone records. Just take the protection for a day.'

Rose was shaken enough to stop protesting.

'And,' Jack whispered drawing her close, 'keep your guard up.'

'Always,' she whispered, 'Bye' And they left.

Jack was left in his apartment with Evans, the new director of CTU, who had made himself almost invisible while Jack was parting with Rose. Jack didn't know much about Evans, and had had few dealings with him during his previous debriefings. He had the uncomfortable feeling now of being X-rayed by the younger man who had undoubtedly read his file with great interest.

'What's your take on this, Jack?'

'She's either very good or very bad. She admits to low-grade intel on human rights abuses. Nothing more than that. If the Chinese wanted to make a move on me they would have done a better job than sending someone up to ring my doorbell.' He shrugged, 'she's definitely a nurse, whatever else she might be.'

'Do you want the case?'

'No, she knows me too well. Someone else can work her harder, might get more out of her. Her stuff is in my bathroom. Got my prints on it, sorry.'

Evans nodded. He bagged Jasmine's clothes and possessions and made to leave.

'You need to come with us, Jack.' This was not a question or a request.

'I'll follow in my car.'

'We need to debrief you, now.' Evans' tone was more insistent this time.

'I'll be right behind you.' Jack repeated, but made no attempt to gather together his things. 'Man, give me a minute! I need to take a leak.'

Evans nodded. 'Go ahead.'

Jack did not appreciate being invited to use his own bathroom, and found himself slamming the door. Once alone, he sank to the ground where he stood, an unbearable heaviness emanating from deep in his throat. His head was filled with echoes of Jasmine's screams. When he closed his eyes to stop the tears, all he could see her wide eyes, pleading with him to make them stop before the next inevitable crack of the whip, the spray of blood, the high-pitched shriek. Delicate hands struggling pointlessly against rope. Then, as now, he tried to stifle his reaction – lower his heart rate, control his breathing. Pretend he didn't care what they did to her. Pretend he didn't care _about her_. It was the quickest way to make them stop, he knew. Then, as now, he failed miserably.


	7. Chapter 7

7

**7Jack Sleeps in a Bed**

_The following takes place in LA approximately 5 months after Day 6. It is 11.45pm on a Thursday evening._

There was something terribly forbidden about making out in the back of a cab, thought Rose, she didn't actually want the journey to end. She'd given up feeling guilty about enjoying herself about 5 beers ago. The tempo at the inevitable end-of-course bar-crawl had been turned up when it had been revealed that the class participants had been running a sweep-stake on whether she and Jack were together. After that, the alcohol had flowed free and fast, and it had been all they could do to keep up. It wasn't every day she let her hair down like this, and she only hoped she would not be called upon to put her karate skills into practice, as right now, just walking was an achievement. Making out, of course, came naturally, but even then there was a good deal more giggling than normal.

She was barely aware that they had arrived at her place, that he had paid the driver (dammit, how did he do that so fast?) and that he was steering her to her own front door.

"Sober-time!" came Jack's low growl. "You want your daughters to see me?"

"They're at my mom's," replied Rose, fumbling in her bag for her keys.

"They are?" asked Jack.

"Course. Why else d'you think I'd let you take me home?"

Jack was silent. He couldn't think of an answer to this one, besides which, his thoughts were drifting to somewhere below his belt.

Half-a minute later, Rose still hadn't found her keys. It occurred to Jack that she sometimes kept them in her front jogging-pants pocket, so his hand glided slowly from her elbow downwards, entering her pocket. Rose closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, allowing her body to melt into his behind her. Jack let his hand linger there a beat more than was strictly necessary, before removing it, and her keys, slowly and silently.

"Looking for these?" he whispered behind her ear.

"I don't remember," she answered softly.

Jack let out a chuckle, still keeping her close. He reached out to unlock and open her door. Rose turned to kiss him, full on the lips. He returned the kiss, and drew her body in close, effortlessly lifting her by the hips and sweeping her legs behind him. Jack stepped into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind them, their lips still locked.

Rose felt herself pressed between the wall and the passion of his kiss, she squeezed her legs still tighter around him, pressing her softness against him. But still it wasn't enough. She wanted to feel him, closer, stronger, harder. On top of her, underneath her, inside her. She felt a deep ache where she knew his erection should be.

They were moving again. Jack's feet found the stairs and traced their way up and to her bedroom. Their lips parted only as they fell onto the bed, Jack's knees now straddling Rose's hips. Jack paused for a moment and locked into her eyes. Had he ever stopped to notice just how beautiful her eyes were? Rose quivered inside as she felt the full force of his gaze penetrate, deep down into her soul. In a last, desperate stab at rational thought, she reached down to release his belt-buckle.

_The following takes place the next morning in Roses' bedroom_

Jack allowed his mind to enter wakefulness while keeping his body completely still. Playing possum had saved his ass several times after a knockout, letting him hear what the bad guys were up to. Today it was pure habit, unnecessary.

Jack checked himself over mentally. Thirsty, headache, full bladder – sure, that fitted with the amount he had had to drink the previous night. But he was also sore in a few other places, meaning he had taken some hits. He briefly wondered how the other guy was feeling, before it struck him that he didn't even know who the other guy was. He had no recollection of a fight or brawl of any sort. He recalled making love with Rose for what seemed like hours, then, when all their energies were spent, prising himself off to lie by her side. One hand cupping her exposed breast, he had then drifted off to sleep; completely at peace with himself: mind, body and spirit. He recalled no fights. He tried to flex his fists to find out how much action they had seen, but somehow he couldn't find them. That struck Jack as very odd, and he half-wondered whether he was still drunk.

His suspicions alerted, he kept his breath steady and himself as still as possible, while trying to locate his hands. No feeling from the hands, but sharp, tight pains in the wrists. Hands tied behind his back. He felt his pulse quicken and harnessed its energy into focus. Was he still in China, the last 5 months being just a cruel, drug-induced dream? Staying absolutely still, Jack centred his attention outside his body – smooth, fresh-smelling sheet under his cheek, soft mattress, warm woman next to him, naked as far as he could feel, her breath soft on his shoulder, calls of birds outside. No, not China. That China should have been like this!

He wondered who had followed him last night, when his guard was down. Names and faces appeared in his mind: people he had crossed, relatives of people he had killed. Whoever it was, he had led them to Rose. A sick gnawing began in his stomach and rose to his throat – whatever harm had befallen them, Jack knew for an absolute sure and certain fact that it was _all his fault_. Men like Jack just didn't get to feel as much pleasure as he had felt the previous night. Not without paying the price. He should have worked that out by now. He had tempted fate too far.

The gnawing feeling had grown now into the urge to retch, but Jack controlled this. There would be time for self-recrimination later. Maybe. Now was the time to deal with deal with the situation. Time to open eyes.

A flood of relief mixed with puzzlement came across Jack as he saw that Rose's hands were free. He looked to the other side and noted an upturned lamp, books strewn across floor. Blood on the sheet under him. An alarm clock indicated the time was 05.59, which fitted with the dawn light seeping through the curtains, and with the bird-song. No bad guy, no armed guard. Dreaming or not, something didn't fit. Time to wake Rose.

"Rose, honey," said Jack.

She gave a light sigh.

"Rose, wake up. Untie me." said Jack more insistently.

She opened her eyes and looked straight into his. She seemed neither alarmed nor surprised by his request.

"You calm now?" she asked, throatily.

This infuriated Jack. "I won't be calm till I know what's going on. Now untie me!"

"You're awake? I mean, properly awake – you know who I am right?" Rose's voice was distinctly hoarse.

Between the headache, and the pains in his face, ribs and wrists, Jack's patience was running thin. "If you don't untie me right now, I swear you are gonna regret it!"

"That's the Jack I love," said Rose mildly, "I'm actually quite disappointed you've not untied yourself already and used my stockings to abseil down the side of the house."

Jack did not find this amusing at all, but stayed still while she sat up and found his hands.

"Oops, I might have done this too tight," said Rose as she fumbled behind his back. His hands were a grayish-white hue and lifeless.

"You should have told me you were into bondage, I'd have brought my cuffs. They're more comfortable" Jack spat into the pillow.

"And you should have told me about your little sleep-walking problem," said Rose, more seriously now, removing the last vestiges of her stockings from his wrists.

As the bonds were removed, Jack felt a thousand tiny needles surging through his blood vessels. Every pulse (and his pulse was racing by now) brought fresh pain, and deeper, further, right to the tips of each finger. Every finger, every bone, every sinew and every scrap of skin was on fire.

"Sweet Jesus," Jack moaned.

"Sorry," said Rose, without sounding the least bit sorry. "Can you move your fingers?"

Jack lifted himself on his elbows and turned over to get a better look at her. He was as sore as he was mad. And he saw no reason to test out his fingers just yet. As he looked at her, however, he noticed redness on the skin around Rose's neck. Rose's neck was one his favourite parts of her body – he felt sure he would have noticed this yesterday. The injury must be fresh.

"Hey, what happened to you?" he asked, reaching out to her chin.

Rose backed away and brushed his hand aside. She avoided his eyes. She wasn't ready to talk. Fine. He breathed into his hands. The pain was now accompanied by a pale pinkness.

"You really don't remember, do you?" Rose asked.

"Remember what?"

"Have any dreams last night?"

"I never remember dreams," Jack said simply, "why don't you just tell me what happened."

Rose paused, without answering. Jack found it hard to read her expression. Suddenly she rose, picked up her cotton bathrobe and walked out the room. Jack heard her close (but not lock) the bathroom door. He tried to move his fingers – this hurt a lot, but he reckoned he had enough power there to put some clothes on. He slipped into the rather sweaty jeans and sweatshirt he had left by the bed, recovered his Glock from under the mattress, and approached the bathroom.

He wondered for a moment whether he ought to knock before entering, but was driven on by sheer bloody-mindedness. As he entered he found Rose by the sink, downing a large glass of water. She gave no acknowledgement of his presence. A glance at his bruised face in the mirror confirmed to Jack that he looked as bad as he felt – a weal over one eye, a fat lip which someone had made a half-hearted attempt to clean of blood. Forcing his fingers into action, Jack raised the toilet seat and began to relieve himself, while Rose sat on the edge of the bathtub, watching.

"Who's Nina?" asked Rose, while Jack was in mid-flow.

Jack had not been expecting this, and cursed himself – she'd seen his reaction. He forced himself to keep his voice even.

"I talked in my sleep? What did I say?"

"I asked first," said Rose simply.

Jack washed his hands, lowered the toilet seat and sat down, facing Rose directly now. Something didn't add up, and Rose knew why. He would stare her into talking if he had to. He could only hope she had the sense not to push him too far.

"What did I say about Nina in my sleep?" Jack kept his eyes locked right into hers.

Rose held his gaze for a beat before answering. Just hours before, those eyes, fuelled by male desire, had caressed her naked flesh. Now they intended to intimidate. She understood Jack's need to know – she just wished that he could understand _why_ this was difficult to put into words. She steeled herself – she did not want him to see her cry right now.

"You talked rubbish, mostly," began Rose, "I mean, jibberish, not even real words. You swore a lot and you mentioned Nina."

Jack took this in and swallowed hard.

"You weren't yourself. Some of the time you … you thought I was Nina."

The enormity of what she was saying – and not saying – suddenly hit him. "_I_ did that to you?" Jack's voice was shaking.

Rose bit her lip.

He exhaled. "I'm sorry."

A long silence hung between them. Jack flexed his fingers again. It still hurt to move them, but this provided a welcome distraction from his very confused feelings. For while waves of guilt coursed through Jack, half of him was thanking God he had done this to Rose, and not to Audrey.

"How did…" Jack began, but found he couldn't finish the question.

"You let go in the end. You didn't seem to want to .. finish it, just to … hurt. Nina. Me. Then you let go. I tried to talk to you. Your eyes were open, but it's like you weren't seeing. You really had me a couple of times before I fought back."

"Did I … um … are you hurt anywhere else?"

Rose shook her head. "You weren't being very clever about it. You would have a go and then walk away. You muttered a lot. You didn't want to defend yourself _at all_. Then I put the remote against your head. Said if you didn't lie down I'd press the stop key. That was about the only thing you responded to. Then once I tied you up, you went all calm."

Jack took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say. You did great."

Rose chewed her lip. She didn't need praise from Jack.

"You never told me who Nina is. You never mentioned her before. What did she do to piss you off?"

Jack looked into her eyes. There was no way out of this one. He'd just strangled Rose half to death. He could have killed her. He owed her.

"First of all," he said, "I need you to know you don't remind me of Nina _at all_. You don't look like her, you don't talk like her. You're _nothing_ like her."

Rose was non-plussed. "After this morning, that's a hard sell. If you show me a photo, I might just believe you."

Jack shook his head, "There aren't any photos. It was Nina that … killed Teri. We worked together. She betrayed me."

"Wow. She's in jail?"

"She was. She's dead now."

There was another long silence. Rose felt no need to ask what part Jack had played in her death. Her own brush with asphyxiation was too recent, too raw for this.

"Jack, I need to know, if you've ever done this before."

"No-one's mentioned it," said Jack. "Teri used to say I'd jump up or shout in my sleep. But I've never done anything like this…. Look, I must really have scared you, I am so, so so…"

But Rose interrupted him, and for the first time Jack heard an edge in her voice, "Listen, you can stop right there – it's just that I've had enough of men in my life telling me how sorry they are. I kinda thought I'd left all that behind me."

Jack had to bite his tongue to stop himself from apologizing again.

"For what it's worth," Rose continued, "I wish I hadn't hit you so hard. I should've restrained you or something. I just went into autopilot."

"No, no, it's OK. Your hands OK?" he asked.

Rose smiled, "Nothing broken. Oh, Jack," she sighed, "what are we like?"

Jack chuckled and shook his head. Words failed him, so he said nothing.

"Breakfast?" asked Rose.

"You know, I really don't deserve you," said Jack softly. He moved to sit next to her on the edge of the bathtub, picked her right hand out of her lap and kissed her tender knuckles.

Rose let him take her hand. "Yes, I know," she said, "I don't deserve you either."

"Ouch!" said Jack and exhaled sharply.

"I didn't mean it like that. Come, let's make coffee. Then I'll show you how to put cover-up on a bruise."

Thinking he'd got off lightly, Jack smiled once more, and put an arm around Rose's shoulder as they headed out of the bathroom.


	8. Chapter 8

**8Audrey**

_The following takes place in a hotel lobby in Washington DC approximately 16 months after Day 6._

Jack cursed inwardly that he should bump into someone on the simple journey from the elevator to the chairs in a quiet, spacious, hotel lobby. The middle-aged man, dressed in a business suit, was most apologetic. So he should be. It takes something to bump into a man on crutches. Jack was stable enough not to have been knocked to the floor, but the jolt had been enough to send a fresh wave of pain through his battered and broken leg.

Jack continued to the easy chairs and waited for Audrey as they had arranged. He checked his cell for messages – none. It was an effort to keep his fingers still. It was a simple enough assignment, really. Travel to Washington and spend a day with Audrey. He understood why Rose had insisted. He's asked her to marry him, but been unable to look Rose in the eye and tell her he didn't love Audrey. She suspected (and with some reason) that the proposal was motivated by a sense of duty rather than love. She wasn't being unreasonable.

Jack noticed Audrey before she entered the hotel. She looked just as he remembered from before – beautiful, thin, her long blond hair now flowing freely down the shoulders of her suit jacket. Nothing in her face betrayed the trauma she had endured two years previously. Jack raised a hand to attract her attention.

Their eyes met, and Audrey's surprise evident as Jack approached her on his crutches. Nevertheless they embraced and touched cheeks.

'What happened to you?' were the first words that Jack heard.

'I – um – broke my leg' he explained lamely, indicating the extensive metal cage which now held his foot onto his leg. 'How are you?'

'OK, Jack, OK. And you? Apart from the leg I mean?'

'I'm good – shall we sit?'

The pair found a quiet corner and occupied it in a somewhat awkward silence.

'I like the kilt, it's … fetching.'

Jack's eyes found the floor. 'Yeah, well it's kinda tough getting anything over this … scaffolding.' he said pointing to the metal-work. 'Every morning it's like … Scottish kilt … or Bermuda shorts.' Audrey laughed. 'So … kilt it is.' Jack finished.

'But you're not wearing the whole outfit, I mean, isn't there supposed to be a jacket or something?'

'A knitted sweater is … traditional too,' said Jack defensively, his face reddening by the second.

'Sure, yeah,' Audrey continued to tease, 'and what about the knife-thing in your sock? Do you have that?'

'Yeah, well, I can be real traditional, you know?'

'Traditional? Is that what you call it?' asked Audrey.

Jack had to check his impulse to shut her up with a kiss. It was good to see her smile. He had to remind himself why he was there. He hoped that a moment's silence would offer a change in the direction of the conversation.

'Ah Jack,' said Audrey suddenly, 'I should tell you, before you jump him. I have a minder. Pete. At your 3 o'clock. Courtesy of my dad.

Pete was standing some 10 paces away, looking toward the hotel interior. He had on shades and a black jacket that Jack was sure concealed a number of firearms. 'Yeah, got him.' Jack gave Pete a nod. 'So how's your dad?'

'Very happy, once you told him you're getting married.'

'I've asked her to marry me, she's not answered me yet.' Jack corrected her.

'Doesn't matter to my dad. That still made his day.'

'Yeah I bet it did.' Jack chuckled.

'You set off all the alarms at airport security?'

'One or two. They wouldn't let me take my crutches on the plane.'

'What did you tell them, 'I don't need crutches to hijack a plane?''

Jack laughed again, 'No, I didn't mention that.'

'So, what's the story with the leg?' Audrey asked.

'I'm not sure you want to know.'

'Go on, tell me.'

'I – um – walked into a trap. Literally. You know those old bear traps…'

'No, Jack, stop, stop!' Jack couldn't tell whether Audrey was laughing or crying. 'Where?'

'Canada, the lakes, it was a camping trip. Was going great up until then.' Jack sounded miffed.

'How did you manage to walk into…'

'It was all covered in leaves.' Jack shrugged, like a schoolboy making up an excuse for having forgotten his homework.

Audrey laughed, 'Kinda ironic, after everything, don't you think? After everything?'

'Believe me, the irony was creasing me,' Jack was getting in his stride now, 'as I lay there, waiting for the chopper…'

'So, will it be OK?'

'I don't know.' Jack said lightly. Jack noticed the business man who had bumped into him was now sitting at the other end of the lobby. Strange, given he had seemed in such a hurry. 'Listen shall we walk? The park a couple blocks away.'

'Sure.'

The couple had much to talk about. Jack wanted to know how Audrey was recovering from her ordeal over a year ago; he needed to express his gratitude and, most especially, his remorse. He wanted to know if she had found someone special but didn't feel it was polite to ask. He wasn't sure he could handle an answer, anyway. This was a tall order, he thought. They needed what Rose would have called a 'warm-up'. Talking on crutches wasn't easy and Jack was grateful for a park bench to rest on. They sat and he rubbed his calloused palms. He had almost forgotten about Pete, who stayed a respectful distance behind them.

'So um, I take it, you're living together?'

'No, actually, I still have my own apartment.'

'You're on your own?'

'My nephew stays with me.' Jack answered.

'I didn't even know you had a nephew.'

'Josh. His father – my brother – died the same day we got back from China. He's been a little – lost since. He sees his mother at the weekends, but apart from that, he's with me.'

'I'm sorry, I didn't know about your brother. It's still all very hazy.'

Jack nodded.

'Uh, how did you meet her? Rose, I mean.' Audrey asked.

'My karate teacher.'

'She teaches you karate?' Audrey sounded incredulous.

'She did when I had two legs.'

'So, she's better than you.' Audrey was teasing, and Jack liked it.

'Less miles on the clock. Fair sparring, karate rules, she'll score points on me any day. Course if I fought dirty, that would be different…'

'Course. Has she seen you in action?'

'Not really. Managed to steer clear of action lately.'

'That's good. So – uh - what's she like?'

'She's um, she's tough and …,' Jack replied.

'And you love her?'

This was the question that mattered. But Jack was distracted. 'Yes,' he replied distantly. He had noticed the same hotel guest that had bumped into him first thing, now sitting on a park bench, reading the paper. His pulse quickened. Assess – plan – act. His first thought, that he was probably being bugged, and must do nothing to tip off his stalker. His second that if he was in danger, so was Audrey. His gut dropped a notch as he imagined, for a moment, explaining to her father how harm had befallen her after less than an hour in his company. He quickly brought his mind back round to task, and clocked Pete. Pete was sitting on a bench a short distance from their own, gazing vacantly in their direction. The man was on task; he looked reliable.

The plan was simple, but Jack would have felt more comfortable if he had had two legs to stand on. Still, the situation wasn't going to wait to his leg to heal.

'Jack?' Audrey asked.

'Audrey, I have a surprise for you.' Jack heard himself saying, and was surprised himself that he had managed to think of this so fast. 'I want you to wait here. I'll be a few minutes.'

'OK,' Audrey sounded convinced.

Jack got up and made his way toward some maintenance buildings. He found a gap between two buildings that afforded some privacy and a decent ambush point, took his knife in his right hand, and waited. The place smelled of stale urine. He eased his weight onto the shoulder pads of his crutches, forming a stable tripod with his good leg. He made a mental note to lose a few pounds.

On cue, the man who had pretended to be a hotel guest rounded the corner. Jack took him from behind and pressed the knife between his ribs.

'Shout, and you're dead.' he said quietly.

'Oh god,' said the man, 'take my wallet. It's in my back pocket.'

Jack ignored this. 'Who are you working for?'

'I – I don't know what you're talking about,' the stranger stammered.

'Nice try. But not good enough.' Jack's knife broke skin. 'This morning you bumped into me, and that takes effort, man, to bump into a disabled guy in a quiet hotel lobby, and it's no co-incidence that you followed me here, so, don't insult my intelligence, and don't make me ask you again,' (the knife went a little deeper and the man gasped) 'because you only got about a centimetre left before I puncture your lung.'

'Rose Montgomery.'

'What?' Jack asked incredulously.

'I was hired by Rose Montgomery. Now take your knife out of my side.'

Jack kept his knife-hand steady and still. 'I don't believe you.'

'It's the truth. She's your girlfriend. She called me two days ago and contracted me to follow you today. You're meeting your previous partner, Audrey Raines, and Ms Montgomery wants to know if you two are still in love.'

'I still don't believe you, you could work for anyone and know all that.'

The man remained silent and Jack noticed that he had lost control of his bowels.

'OK, prove it' said Jack and now he did release some pressure on the knife. 'Take your cell out of your pocket – slowly – and call her. Put it on speaker.'

The man did as Jack had said. When Rose answered he said, his voice shaking, 'Ms Montgomery, I'm here with Jack Bauer. He has a knife on me. He needs to know that you hired me.'

Both men waited for her response. Eventually she said, 'Let me talk to Jack.'

'Hang up now,' Jack said and withdrew the knife. He sighed heavily, looked the PI in the eyes and said, 'Consider your assignment failed. Ms Montgomery will be expecting a full refund. The bug you placed on me this morning, remove it now.'

The PI reached to behind Jack's elbow and removed a sticky, colourless device, no bigger than a lentil, from his sweater.

Jack could muster up some speed on his crutches when the adrenalin rush took him. Soon his eyes were again on Audrey, and his entire being was filled with relief that she was safe and sound. That did it. He couldn't be around her. She would never be safe with him around. Jack had shouldered many responsibilities in his life, but responsibility for Audrey Raines was more than he could bear.

He sat down next to her.

'Well, what's the surprise?' Audrey asked expectantly.

Jack nodded at Pete who was now approaching them. Thank god for minders. Jack exhaled.

'You did good to stay on your mark.' Jack said to Pete.

'Everything OK?' Pete asked.

Jack nodded. 'The surprise is that my partner hired a PI to tail me. Wanted to check up on us. I just rumbled him'

Audrey whistled. Pete nodded, 'I wondered who that guy was…. Well, I'll leave you to it,' and left to his own bench.

Audrey and Jack sat in silence. Jack said, 'He'll call her, she'll take a minute to think, then she'll call me.' They waited. His cell rang. Jack looked at it without answering.

'I'll give you some privacy,' said Audrey and started in the direction of Pete's bench.

'Yeah,' Jack answered his cell. 'No, I just scared him… No, sweetheart, you haven't… Look I'm not mad that you hired a PI to tail me – I'm mad you hired a _crap_ PI to tail me. Do you have ANY idea how dangerous that was? I could have killed the guy, and then where would I be? … Well, NEXT time you want to hire a PI, ASK ME FOR A RECOMMENDATION! I even know people in Washington! … Sweetie, take it easy…. Yeah… I don't blame you because … I did something similar myself… Yeah… Way back when we first got together, I never told you. I had you checked out – criminal records, all that stuff… Yeah… Look, I know what you said in court, I read the transcript…. No it doesn't matter…. Me too.' Jack hung up and took a deep breath.

Time for a coffee, he thought, he needed to unwind. Back on his crutches he hobbled toward Audrey and Pete on their bench. He noticed that as they saw him approach, Audrey moved her hand, ever so slightly, back into her lap and away from Pete. His insides churned, but he gave no reaction. He had found out all that he needed to know.


	9. Chapter 9

**9The Old and the New**

_The following takes place in the Bauer/Montgomery residence approximately 2 years after day 6. It is 3am._

Rose was stopped in her tracks at the top of the stairs by another wave of pain which engulfed her. She had been here in the dark for hours, alone in her torment. She waited for the pain to get worse. She grabbed the wall and held on, trying to breathe out. At the height of the pain she let out a low moan. She cursed herself for disturbing the peace of the house – everyone was sleeping.

The contraction dealt with, she heard the key click in the door downstairs and descended to greet her mother. The older woman turned the light on as she came in, revealing a hallway and staircase littered with the accumulated junk of family life – school bags overflowing with half-finished homework, bike helmets, washing hung up to dry. They met wordlessly in the middle of the staircase as another contraction swept through her body. This time she dropped to her knees and clung on to the banister.

'How ya doing, hun?' the older woman asked.

'Good.' Rose managed after the contraction, 'Time to go. Will you wake Jack for me?'

Ruth climbed the rest of the stairs slowly (her knees and hip had been bothering her a lot lately) and entered their bedroom. She had always been wary of her daughter's new husband. The thin, grey-haired old woman had thought she understood what made different types of men tick – this one, however, refused to fit into any of the categories she knew. She didn't understand him, and therefore she didn't trust him.

She watched his breath rise and fall before slapping him gently and saying, 'Time to go, you gotta take her to the hospital.' Jack didn't need telling twice, he moved speedily despite the limp, and quickly donned jeans, a sweater and boots.

He almost tripped on Rose on the stairs, 'Waters gone?'

'No.'

Wordlessly, Jack bundled Rose and their bag into their SUV and drove like a madman through the deserted streets of LA. For once Rose didn't complain.

She was getting louder. Jack had a pretty good internal clock, and it seemed to him that she was spending more time in pain than recovering – he drove faster.

'How long have you been contracting?'

'All night'

'Why didn't you wake me sooner?' he asked while driving through a red light.

'Didn't need you.'

She had another contraction and clawed at the car roof.

'Breathe, sweetie, you're OK, you're doing great.'

Rose held her breath and Jack could hear her push.

'Rose, blow out NOW!' he commanded.

'I can't do this!' she screamed. Apart from when they made love, it was the first time Jack had ever heard her out of control.

'Yes, you fucking can. Now blow, BLOW!'

Rose sighed and slumped back in the passenger seat. Suddenly she said, 'Stop. I'm gonna be sick.'

Jack glanced. 'Go ahead, I'm not stopping.'

'Yes, you fucking are,' said Rose and, at 60mph, she opened the car door.

The car stopped. Rose fell out onto the gutter – the sidewalk was empty except for a few cats. She vomited where she fell. Jack got out the driver's side, jumped over the bonnet to find her on all-fours. He knelt in the pool of vomit just as another contraction overtook her. She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled, moaning into his ear.

'That's good, sweetheart, breathe, breathe out.'

But again, breath left her and a low grunting deep in her throat told Jack they weren't going to make it back into the SUV.

'Easy, easy.' he looked around. They were parked in the darkest spot, exactly midway between streetlamps. The street was completely deserted, even of winos.

Another scream. 'Jack I need to take a dump! NOW!'

Rose's rear-end was too close to the SUV for Jack's liking. He was going to need access. 'Budge your knees up onto the sidewalk.' he told her.

She gave no indication she had heard him.

'My kid is _not_ going to be born in the gutter. MOVE YOUR ASS! NOW!' Jack yelled.

She moved. Like most expectant fathers, Jack had harboured a secret fear that he might need to delivery his baby alone. Unlike most fathers, he had spent a fortnight's work experience with the LA paramedics, and at least had a clue of what to do. He eased himself from her vice-like grip and took a blanket and a flashlight from the SUV. He threw the blanket on the sidewalk, and held the flashlight in his mouth. He planted himself at her rear end and pulled her pants off. Rose was shaking.

A flood of diarrhoea was followed by a pop and gush of warm fluid. Rose moaned again.

'Breathe, breathe goddam you!' said Jack softly. But breathing was by now beyond Rose. The scream that followed was accompanied by a large, hard something between her buttocks. Not until the 'something' blinked at him did Jack realise that this was, in fact, a head. Whether because of the light of the flashlight, or the sight of Jack's face, the baby screwed up its face in an attempt to cry. However, the pressure on its chest was still too great to allow breath and Jack watched as it foamed at the mouth.

The head turned, the rest of the baby slithered out, and while Jack caught it by the armpits, the rear and legs hit the gritty, shitty sidewalk. He now had a wet baby in his hands and a flashlight in his mouth. The blanket lay on the sidewalk at Rose's upper end. The baby shuddered, sneezed and began to breathe. Jack tried to bring it round Rose's thigh to the blanket, but was stopped short by a sharp tug and another scream from Rose. Dammit, still attached by the cord. He'd forgotten about that. Jack spat his flashlight onto the sidewalk.

'Rose. You have to take it. Pick it up. It's OK.'

'What?' She wasn't really taking anything in, but reached down anyway to receive the baby Jack was passing her through her thighs. She was amazed at how soft and slippery it felt.

Hands now free, Jack found the blanket and dried the baby.

'Is it OK?'

'It's breathing. Yeah, I think it's OK'

'Oh my god, I don't believe that just happened.'

Jack lifted Rose's sweater and snuggled the baby in close to her.

'What is it?'

'Didn't get a proper look, it's kinda dark. How you feeling?'

The silence was broken by the sound of a car pulling over.

'Need any help over there?' came a voice.

'Yes, officer.' said Jack, 'help would be great.'

_Noon the same day, at the Bauer/Montgomery residence_

Jack understood where Rose got her stubborn streak from – Ruth Montgomery was a formidable woman, in her own way. She had made no secret of her disappointment in Jack's dubious fathering abilities. Not yet a father to her grandson for 12 hours, he had already clocked up three failures: failure to get them to hospital; failure to _keep_ them in hospital; and failure even to make sure the baby was fed properly. (Ignore her, Rose had said, she has old-fashioned values. If you're not beating me up and raping my kids, you're not a real man). Now they sat opposite each other at the lunch table, the grey-haired woman glaring at Jack tight-lipped, while he picked at the meal she had prepared them. The girls were savouring Rose's re-telling of the dramatic birth story, while Josh looked on in some embarrassment. Rose, having had a bath and scrubbed the grit out of her knee-caps, sat next to Jack, her baby still lodged firmly in her bosom.

Rose was laughing hard, 'You should have seen that officer's face!'

'That's a shift he won't forget in a while!'

The doorbell rang and Sam went to answer it.

'I still can't believe it.' said Cat. 'Born on the sidewalk! What did they say in the hospital?'

'Not much, they were pretty busy. They just checked us over and that was that. Waste of time really.'

'Still can't figure out his name, why _David Montgomery_?' said Ruth.

'That was Jack's idea. He's just in denial he has a kid. Give him time.'

Jack had been wrapped up in his own thoughts since the birth. He couldn't tell Rose, but he had a strong feeling of the presence of Teri. He kept thinking she was just out of his line of sight – in the next room, behind the couch. Another figure, too. This one smaller. A child, perhaps? Jack was too used to listening to his instincts about who was where to detach himself completely from this strange feeling.

'I wanted to name him after David Palmer,' Jack said slowly, 'He was a great man.'

'But you two are married. I mean, it's one thing for Rose and Gaby and the twins. But this kid is yours, it's just strange you won't give him your name,' Ruth persisted.

Jack made no response. It had been easy, when they married, to agree that Rose would keep her maiden name. He hadn't even needed to give a reason, thanks to her feminist leanings. But even Rose thought it unusual that he did not want the name 'Bauer' to appear on his son's birth certificate. Somehow he hadn't been able to get the word 'cursed' past his lips. He reckoned his chances of explaining this to his mother-in-law were nil.

Jack's attention, however, had been caught by noises at the door. He left the room and paced to the front entrance to find a protesting Sam being dragged down the front path by a man he recognised as Tom, her father. He was unshaven, dressed all in denim, including his dusty jacket. He carried himself with a swagger that made it clear he had been drinking.

'Just a day together? Just one measly day? You can't even manage that for your old man?'

'Let her go, Tom,' said Jack calmly.

Tom turned. 'And who the fuck are you?' And he held on tight to Sam's arm.

'Let her go!' he neared Tom

'Oh, it's the new man, is it?' said Tom. 'You think you can take my wife? You think you can take my daughter? They're mine, you go get your own.'

Jack's presence alone was enough to distract Tom and give Sam courage – she kneed him, hard, in the groin. She may have been only thirteen years old and Tom a full-grown man, but she was not a brown-belt for nothing. While Tom was doubled over in pain, she landed a well-aimed front-kick to his head, which knocked him to the ground.

'Go in the house and shut the door.' Jack told Sam in an undertone, and she obeyed, instantly.

'You just don't get it, do you?' said Tom from the sidewalk, 'You don't tell them what to do!'

'Go home Tom, sober up.' said Jack.

Tom picked himself up as Jack backed toward the door.

'And you don't tell me what to do either!' Tom righted himself quickly and pointed a revolver straight at Jack's chest. It was an old weapon, clearly in need of a good clean, but nevertheless perfectly capable of doing its job. With a smile, Tom clicked off the safety.

Jack's Glock was holstered. Drawing it now would be suicide. Besides, he was determined to resolve this without rounds being fired. He raised his hands in front of him.

'Put it away, Tom.'

Tom leered at Jack and eyed the Glock at his side. He was enjoying having the first draw.

'You don't want to shoot me.'

'Maybe I don't, then again, maybe I do…' Tom leered.

Rose emerged from the house. Jack hoped she'd had the sense to leave the baby inside. Tom's face softened, but his revolver remained pointed at Jack's chest.

'Rosie, hun, is it true?' he asked. 'They said you had his…'

It was all the distraction Jack needed. In the moment Tom's eyes were off him he made a lunge to knock the revolver out of Tom's hand, twisting his torso away from the muzzle. He had not counted on Tom's quick reflexes, however, and he managed to let off a round before losing the revolver completely. Jack took this in his outstretched right arm.

It was Rose's scream, rather than the bullet in his arm, that sent an extra dose of adrenalin running through Jack's remaining blood. A left hook sent Tom flying to the sidewalk once more. Once down, Tom didn't move or groan. Jack went in to stamp his lights out but found himself being steered firmly by his left upper arm.

'It's OK soldier boy,' Rose whispered, 'you don't need to kill him. He's just a drunk. Come inside, we need to sort you out.'

'Pick his weapon up. Don't leave it.' Jack said to Rose. He had the presence of mind to yank his good arm from her grip and grasp his right arm to stem the flow of blood.

Once inside, Rose crumpled to the floor, all her strength and courage spent. Jack locked and bolted the door. The scene that greeted him was not much more reassuring than the one he had just left. Sam and Cat were both crying. Cat had the baby. Worryingly, Ruth was sitting on the bottom stair, clutching her left arm. Her skin had turned the same shade of grey as her hair.

Josh took charge, bringing a cell and a towel. He threw the cell to Rose. 'Dial 911,' he told her. 'We need LAPD and ambulance.'

Josh had been around Jack long enough to know what to do with a bleeding wound. Jack was still standing, so he was alright. Jack nodded to Josh, then exhaled as his nephew tied the towel tight around his arm, above the source of the bleeding.

'They're coming,' said Rose. 'Sam, you OK?'

Sam was still crying, hugging her sister. 'How did he find out about us? How does he know where we live?'

Jack managed a smile, 'Sam you did gr…' but a call from outside cut him short.

'Rosie!... Rosey-Rose? Hunny, what's happened? Rosie, we need to talk.'

'Everybody upstairs, now!' Jack barked.

'Sam? Sammy? Has he got you in there?'

A shiver ran down Sam's spine. She and Josh took her grandmother by the armpits and dragged her up the stairs. Jack, his Glock now in his good hand, brought up the rear. Shots rang out below them, piercing the wooden door.

'He got another gun?'

'Sounds like it.' Jack answered.

They gathered in the bedroom, Ruth was gasping for breath.

'Stay low and stay away from the window.' said Jack. He punched the combination into his safe and extracted and M16, which Josh loaded for him. Jack pocketed one Glock, and took the loaded M16.

'Take the other Glock,' he said to Josh, 'If you have to use it, don't hesitate.'

Josh nodded. He knew what to do.

'Get back on the phone' Jack told Rose, 'find out what's happening.'

'Battery just died.' she said.

Ruth was now on her back. Worry was written on Rose's face as she held her mother's hand.

Tom continued to call for Sam. 'Has he got you in there? Oh, Sam I miss you so much!'

More shots rained and the sound of shattering glass told them he had shot out the den window. He could now get in easily.

'Stay here, stay low.' Jack gave a parting glance at Josh, who nodded, Glock in hand.

Jack positioned himself on the top landing. He had good cover, and would have a clear shot of Tom's head should he decide to come up the stairs. His right arm was good for nothing, but he wouldn't need it. He could hear Tom climbing into the house.

'Sammy? Sam?'

The baby started to cry, giving away their position.

Jack heard Tom's footfall on the first step.

'Don't come up, Tom. I will kill you if I have to.'

'You wanna take me on?'

In the distance they heard sirens.

'Look, I just wanna see my little girl, she needs her daddy. You understand that, don't you?'

'Get back out of the house!'

But Tom continued, slowly and (he thought), stealthily to climb the stairs. A step too far, a clear head shot, a squeeze on the trigger-finger. Tom's body dropped instantly and a mass of grey matter mixed with the blood on the wall opposite told Jack he needn't worry about Tom any more.

Out of habit, Jack descended the stairs and kicked Tom's shot gun away.

The sirens came closer.

'We're OK, we're clear!' Jack shouted to his family, 'you can come out now'.

_Midnight that same day, on the back doorstep of the Bauer/Montgomery residence_

It was a clear, starry night. Jack sat alone, cigarette in his left hand, his Glock also holstered on his left. His right arm rested in a sling, his sweater sleeve cut roughly above his wound, leaving an inch of cold flesh between it and the gauze. Josh came out of the house and sat down next to Jack, setting down an unopened beer can between them.

'Thought you'd quit,' he said to his uncle.

Jack carefully laid his cigarette on his jeans, opened the beer and took a swig. 'You know me. I like quitting so much I keep doing it over and over.'

'How's the hand?'

'You'll see in the morning, you can change the dressing.'

'I meant, is it hurting?'

'Hm. Local's wearing off.'

'You want me to get you something?'

'No, it's fine… You'd better give me a status report, though.'

'Eh?'

'What's happening inside?'

'Oh. Susan left. Gaby arrived, she's with the girls.'

'You gave your bed to Gaby?'

'Yes, uncle. Rose is still sleeping. My mom's giving David a bottle.'

'Damn doctors.'

'Rose was hysterical. You were in surgery, you didn't see. They had to give her something…. Forensics left, they said we could start clearing up. They also said you had to stay in town. Apparently, Tom had a friend who works at the hospital, that's how he found out.'

Jack nodded. 'How are Sam and Cat?'

'They keep setting each other off. One starts crying, then the other. Then they both stopped and Gaby came and they all started again.'

'They were all very close. You know, Ruth raised them while Rose was inside.'

'I didn't know that.'

'They don't talk about it.'

'That, I noticed…. Cat wanted me to tell her whether it would have made a difference, if the medics hadn't been held up by the SWAT guys, you know, if she'd got to hospital sooner. Like I should know.'

'They look up to you. You've been through stuff. What did you say?'

'I said I didn't know. What do you think?'

Jack took a long draw on his smoke. 'That when your number's up, that's it.'

'Is that what you would say to Cat?'

Jack looked down and shook his head, 'No. Maybe. I don't know.'

The two sat in silence. Jack stubbed out the remains of his cigarette and lit another.

'You got a black suit jacket?' Jack asked.

'I've got the one I wore at dad's funeral.'

'You've grown about six inches since then, we'll need to get you a new one.'

There was more silence and Josh took a swig of beer.

Jack spoke again, 'You did good today.'

'Thanks. I just… I feel like I shouldn't be here. Like I'm intruding on their grief.'

'Yeah, me too,' said Jack. His voice lowered to a threatening growl, 'Don't split on me now, kid, time to earn your keep. You're on diaper duty.'

Josh laughed, 'That's what I'm afraid of.' He yawned. 'You tired?'

'We've got to clear up.' said Jack by way of answer. 'You want the glass or the brains?'

It took Josh a moment to realise that this was a serious question. 'I'll take the glass… But really, aren't you tired?'

'I won't sleep tonight. I just keep thinking…'

'That it's not been enough excitement for one day?'

Jack smiled and exhaled – it was almost a laugh.

Josh persisted, 'You think if you close your eyes, the feds are going to come for you, tell you there's a nuke somewhere you've gotta find?'

'No. It's just been a long time ….' But Jack never finished his sentence.

'Jack?' A small figure appeared behind them. She was dressed only in a thin night-dress which did little to protect her from the cool night air. Her skinny, pubescent figure shivered slightly. Dazed by the light from the kitchen behind her, Jack could not tell whether this was the silhouette of Sam or Cat.

'Bed. Now.' Jack replied.

But the girl offered Jack a cordless phone. Her voice was shaky, 'Jack it's my grandmother. Can you talk to her? I don't know what to say.'

Jack stubbed out his cigarette, raised himself to his knees and turned to face the girl. Now on a level with her eyes, he gently kissed her forehead. 'Sam,' he began softly, 'You've had a long day, you're tired. Your grandma died today. Remember at the hospital? I'm sorry, baby.'

Sam turned her face to avoid the smells on Jack's breath, but continued to offer him the phone. 'No, Jack, you don't understand' she said in some exasperation, 'My other grandmother. It's Tom's mom.'

Jack closed his eyes and exhaled slowly as the realisation struck him. He took the phone and noted with dismay that Sam had not had the presence of mind to press the silencer button.

'OK,' he said to Sam, 'I still want you to go to bed. Cat too. You tell her. I'll come up in ten.'

Jack dismissed Josh too, with a nod of his head. He sat back down and spoke into the receiver, 'Mrs Martins? My name is Jack Bauer. I'm Rose's husband.'


End file.
